One of the best ways to fight poverty and to fight terrorism is to educate girls and bring women into the formal labor force.

Our focus has to be on changing reality, not changing laws.

It's no accident that the countries that have enjoyed an economic take off have been those that educated girls and then gave them the autonomy to move to the cities to find work

Women are not the problem they're the solution

If you economically empower a woman, she represents enormous opportunity that can actually be transformative not only for her family and for her community, but at the aggregate level for the economy.

One of the ways to be happy, to be truly happy, is to contribute to a cause that is greater than yourself. And, through Harvard-based research, we can see that happy people live longer.

The tools to crush modern slavery exist, but the political will is lacking.

When the history of African development is written, it will be clear that a turning point involved the empowerment of women.

We all have won the lottery of life. How do we discharge that responsibility?

For lack of a few pinches of ordinary iodised table salt in the diet of a third world pregnant mother, a child can lose up to ten IQ (Intelligence Quotient) points.

...cultural barriers can be overcome relatively swiftly where there is the political will to do so.

Ben made me laugh. I was attracted to his attraction for me: the way he smiled for instance, whenever he saw me, that goofy kind of grin that hijacks the face of the helplessly smitten.

And all that you are sorry for is what you haven't done.

To be is to stand for.

The book, the idea of a book or the image of a book, is a symbol of learning, of transmitting knowledge.. I make my own books to find my way through the old stories.

a woman may be called a wife and mother for most of her life, while a man is called a husband and father only at his funeral.

Freedom exists only with power.

I get angry about stuff, I get very emotionally intense about stuff and that's how I get it out - with books, with the band, on my own onstage, but it's always kind of a wail.

If we want any significant development, we must co-opt civil society.

I will conquer the whole world and fill it with myself

I still hate [the Eagles]…. There’s levels of evil in it to me.