No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.

Poverty is not just a lack of money; it is not having the capability to realize one's full potential as a human being

Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable - and unethical.

The success of a society is to be evaluated primarily by the freedoms that members of the society enjoy.

Poverty is the deprivation of opportunity.

I believe that virtually all the problems in the world come from inequality of one kind or another.

Empowering women is key to building a future we want

Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat.

Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development, they are also among its principal means.

Progress is more plausibly judged by the reduction of deprivation than by the further enrichment of the opulent

Human ordeals thrive on ignorance. To understand a problem with clarity is already half way towards solving it.

Labeled fools to the world are geniuses to the cosmos.

I miss New York. I like the country and I like the people. However, the U.S. political and legal system is prone to overreaction.

I'm affected by my environment. Los Angeles makes me defensive and wary.

People are so into digital recording now they forgot how easy analog recording can be.

Humans have discovered that they cannot stop Death, but at least they can spit in his drink.

Writers talk about the agony of writing; I talk about the agony of not writing.

She plays music to heal herself, but nothing can heal her brokenness.

Oh worse than everything, is kindness counterfeiting absent love.

I like a twisted sense of humour. On 'A History of Violence,' David Cronenberg and I would be doing the grimmest scenes and laugh a lot.