I was teaching in one of the universities while the country was suffering from a severe famine. People were dying of hunger, and I felt very helpless. As an economist, I had no tool in my tool box to fix that kind of situation.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the limits of academic knowledge in addressing real-world crises, emphasizing the feelings of helplessness experienced by experts when faced with dire humanitarian issues.
Muhammad Yunus reflects on his experience as a university teacher during a devastating famine, expressing his frustration and helplessness in not being able to apply his expertise in economics to alleviate the suffering caused by hunger. This statement underlines the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical solutions, particularly in times of urgent humanitarian need, showcasing the limitations of academic approaches when confronted with the harsh realities of life.
In practice
This quote can be used in a lecture about the practical applications of economic theories in disaster relief.
Civilization has given us enormous successes: going to the moon, technology. But then this is the civilisation that took us to debt, environmental crisis, every single crisis. We need a civilization where we say goodbye to these things.
What I did not know yet about hunger, but would find out over the next twenty-one years, was that brilliant theorists of economics do not find it worthwhile to spend time discussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these will be resolved when general economic prosperity increases. These economists spend all their talents detailing the process of development and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin and development of poverty and hunger. A a result, poverty continues.
People.. were poor not because they were stupid or lazy. They worked all day long, doing complex physical tasks. They were poor because the financial institution in the country did not help them widen their economic base.
Some people think that poor people are lazy. Actually, it takes a lot of work to survive when you are dirt-poor.
Once poverty is gone, we'll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They'll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society - how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.
By simply capitalizing on core strengths and knowledge, companies and entrepreneurs can engage in an emerging business model that will enable them to create - and demonstrate - real, sustainable social impact in society.
It is a very high goal which, with our weak powers, we can reach only very inadequately, but which gives a sure foundation to our aspirations and valuations.
Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up.
Direct your eye inward, and you'll find / A thousand regions in your mind / Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be / Expert in home-cosmography
'Always speak the truth - think before you speak - and write it down afterwards.'_x000D_ _x000D_ 'I'm sure I didn't mean - ' Alice was beginning, but the Red Queen interrupted her impatiently._x000D_ _x000D_ 'That's just what I complain of! You should have meant! What do you suppose is the use of child without any meaning? Even a joke should have some meaning - and a child's more important than a joke, I hope.
Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.
Don’t do what you know on a gut level to be the wrong thing to doI don’t think there’s a single dumbass thing I’ve done in my adult life that I didn’t know was a dumbass thing to do while I was doing it. Even when I justified it to myself—as I did every damn time—the truest part of me knew I was doing the wrong thing. Always. As the years pass, I’m learning how to better trust my gut and not do the wrong thing, but every so often I get a harsh reminder that I’ve still got work to do.
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