Christopher Hitchens Quotes

Almost half of the population of the world lives in rural regions and mostly in a state of poverty. Such inequalities in human development have been one of the primary reasons for unrest and, in some parts of the world, even violence.

Going to Liberia really changed a lot for me. I didn't realize what was happening on the same planet. My understanding that in the world everything is interconnected really grew - to go to one of the poorest countries from one of the richest countries in the world. It was two worlds apart.

I travel around the world, experiencing every language, every religion... some places where there's just no reason to smile, because their lives are so difficult.

The world today is anything but trouble-free.

So long as there is imperialism in the world, a permanent peace is impossible.

Violence has been Nicaragua's most important export to the world.

The other aspect is that you become much more aware of the structural problems that pertain to that continent. You feel the need to act to try and solve them.

In Afghanistan, there is a plan to build democracy; hundreds of thousands of troops are protecting it. There is a plan to rebuild and reconstruct there. But many thousands of Americans die from violence and poverty every year and we don't have a plan for reconstruction at home.

What is the Obama Doctrine? It seems to be one of disengagement, to try to ignore the hot, religious, dry, poor countries from Algeria to Pakistan.

As the war on terrorism spreads and prolongs, the fruits of ending the threat of terrorism around the world will be tempered with a whole new series of problems to be addressed and resolved.

I love traveling. It not only opens my mind up, but it also allows me to use my fame in another way through humanitarian works and stuff, and being an influence around the world.

The first thing to recognize not just about Afghanistan but about any poor undeveloped country is that as big as it looks on the map, it's much bigger when you're there.

It is conflict overall that mires people in poverty. That is the first law of development.

Being able to travel and see the world really makes me appreciate the blessings in my life. There are so many people that will never get a chance to see some of the things that I've seen during my travels. I'll never take that for granted.

I mean, honestly, we have to be clear that the life for many Afghan women is not that much different than it was a hundred years ago, 200 years ago. The country has lived with so much violence and conflict that many people, men and women, just want it to be over.

Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.

The cry of the poor for bread has been answered by warheads!

Halve the income of the country and you double the risk of civil war.

The declining security of African peoples as a consequence of warfare, predatory officials, and weak economies should not be eclipsed in the international community's pursuit of anti-terrorism campaigns.

This turbulent world is far from a perfect place.

We've had to pull out of so many countries in Northern Africa.

Every year, I hear about Thanksgiving. Who do one give thanks to? ... And who is giving thanks? What are they giving thanks for? For lots of poverty that's on the earth and lots of war that is a-rumoring all over the earth? For lots of people who die daily and the crime that multiply?

Africa is the continent that the rest of the world prefers not to think about.

The former colonies, in Latin America in particular, have a better chance than ever before to overcome centuries of subjugation, violence and foreign intervention, which they have so far survived as dependencies with islands of luxury in a sea of misery.

India lived in hopelessness, as the government was not responsive. It did not know what the poor needed. There was complete policy paralysis. Corruption was rampant, and terrorists used to play havoc in the country.