Essentially, corruption entails a misallocation of entrepreneurial talent into activities that carries individual benefit, but has destructive or unproductive consequences for society at large. Because of its essentially predatory nature, it reduces productive investment, leads to an outflow of talent, lowering growth rates and increasing income inequalities.
— Wim Naudé“I hated it! I absolutely hated it without knowing why really, at that age. And these two contrasting images in a way became symbols for the rest of my life and the way I think about wildlife. One is how not to keep them, and one is how to leave them alone where they should be.”— Virginia McKenna
The quote archive
Justice
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
Roughly speaking, a child born today in a very poor country can expect to live about 40 years, while a child born today in a wealthy country could expect to live about 80 years.
— Sir Richard FeachemUnknown.
I am also here to send a message to the world: these unprecedented floods demand unprecedented assistance
— Ban Ki MoonFormer UN Secretary-General, served two five-year terms.
When the hydrogen bomb was first proposed in the early 1950's, the scientific panel in charge of US nuclear research recommended against it, unanimously. They called it a weapon of genocide whose only purpose would be to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians.
— Joseph CirincioneNuclear weapons expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund.
the share of the population in the top tercile is negatively associated with crime. When crime increases twofold the share of the rich tercile drops by 1.3%. In addition, we see that the share of the population in the poorest tercile increases with crime
— Filipe CampanteUnknown.
causality runs from the latter to the former: in more unequal societies, the return to committing a crime increases, since there is more wealth to be taken away at each crime
— Igor BarenboimUnknown.
There's a huge amount of corruption in some of these countries, but when you have traceability and transparency that's been pushed through consumer and shareholder pressure into global value-chains, it can act as an antidote to the corruption which may exist in the market.
— William FooteUnknown.
Despite these needs, the reality is that more than half of the estimated 2.7 billion working age adults globally are excluded from formal financial services. Poor families, as far as access to financial services is concerned, are doubly penalised. They need financial access more than we do, but they only have access to inferior informal services.
— Tilman EhrbeckCorruption is a phenomenon that has existed for thousands of years, but only now is it becoming an unacceptable event. Corruption destroys societies, hinders development and undermines security. Note what happened in the Middle East and North Africa… corruption was one of the triggers of unrest in these countries. It appears that people are fed-up of corruption, they want change, and they want it now.
— Yury FedotovDirector of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
We estimate with the World Bank that US$20-40 billion each year is lost in developing countries through corruption. If you add to that $5 billion each year in stolen assets, it clearly shows that corruption is a serious obstacle to the achievement of the millennium development goals. It is also a threat to human security and human rights.
— Yury FedotovDirector of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
…discrimination on the basis of sex, it has been said, is the last universally accepted form of discrimination, practiced without secrecy or pretence even in those liberal circles that have long prided themselves on their freedom from prejudice against racial minorities.
— Peter SingerPhilosopher Known for Work on Animal Rights & Effective Altruism
…the question is not can they reason? Or can they talk? …But can they suffer?
— Ingrid NewkirkFounder and President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
To me the question is, why are we denying them the obvious rights they should have? They are flesh and blood, they feel pain as we do, they experience joy, they have their own behaviours and their own languages among themselves that they understand and we don't. They have maternal instincts and look after each other as we do… it's not an intellectual thing when a mother protects her child; it's an instinctive behaviour.
— Ingrid NewkirkFounder and President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
We're talking about massive amounts of money that have been shifted from poorer countries to richer ones. Almost all of this constitutes a permanent outward transfer. In our estimate, only about 10-20% of global illicit money ever finds its way back into the country of origin.
— Raymond BakerI think the scale is potentially huge. Frankly, this is one of the reason why investigation is so important. The best approach is to keep an open mind and let the investigation go where it may.
— Andrew LoMIT Finance Professor & Pioneer of Quantitative Finance & Behavioral Economics
Why does torture happen? There are a variety of reasons, paramount is the role of torture as a 'shortcut' to investigating crime- many investigators and police have used this from time immemorial, and the efforts to abolish and curb it have been progressing over the years.
— Juan MéndezUN Special Rapporteur on Torture & Other Cruel, Inhuman Treatment