Norman Thomas Quotes

More goods and fewer people" is the slogan I should like to see carried at the head of humanity's march into the future.

Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery.

it must be right to suggest that all countries should use their resources so as to advance the right to development for their people in an equitable manner and that all countries should cooperate for the mutual achievement of the right to development. The alternative to such a policy framework is a Darwinian world of market-oriented capitalism with no social or human rights safety nets. How can developing countries survive in such a world?

The primary task of developing countries is to develop the economy and eradicate poverty. Without economic growth, there would be no material basis for a better life or better environment for the people. But economic growth must not be achieved at the cost of environment or resources. In the absence of proper resource and environmental protection, there could be no sustainable economic development.

What is innovation if not our ticket to every business interest in the world? It's the ticket to solving the world's problems - the energy problems, the pollution problems, the global warming problems. If it isn't for science and engineering, how will we compete in the new world?

I believe economic growth should translate into the happiness and progress of all. Along with it, there should be development of art and culture, literature and education, science and technology. We have to see how to harness the many resources of India for achieving common good and for inclusive growth.

We are living in a Golden Age, the most gilded Golden Age of human history—not only of past history, but of future history.

We have the means of removing starvation and disease. We have almost unlimited power in sight, that can make the waste lands bloom. We have the possibility of banishing disease.... We ... can learn the truth and ... tell it to one another throughout a healthy world that is secure against the ravages of nature. It is the setting for a world of peace and unity. One thing is lacking. Good will and understanding.

In recent times, modern science has developed to give mankind, for the first time in the history of the human race, a way of securing a more abundant life which does not simply consist in taking away from someone else.... Science really creates wealth and opportunity which did not exist before.

We are living in a time when the comforts of life, and all the material wealth needed to bring happiness to every human being, can be produced in abundance. There is no need whatever for one human being to go hungry, homeless or naked. Man’s inventive genius has developed the tool to that point, and guided the natural forces to that degree, that abundance is possible to all.

We are still waging Peloponnesian wars. Our control of the material world and our positive science have grown fantastically. But our very achievements turn against us, making politics more random and wars more bestial.

The world is at a crossroads. Our generation may be the first in history with the knowledge, tools and resources to truly turn back the rising tide of hunger and misery.

Development has to rise if population is going to increase, Otherwise people will starve and all kinds of other problems.

I consider myself fundamentally more of an environmentalist than many of the environmental groups. We have to come up with new sources of food, new sources of water, new sources of energy. Trying to ignore leading-edge science and technology as a means of getting there is an ostrich approach of burying your head in the sand.

With science, technology and globalization, man is changing the world faster than his evolution can keep up with the new dangers.

With the observable fact that scientific knowledge makes our lives better when applied with concern for human welfare and environmental protection, there is no question that science and technology can produce abundance so that no one has to go without.

The old rules may say we can’t protect our environment and promote economic growth at the same time, but in America, we’ve always used new technologies - we’ve used science; we’ve used research and development and discovery to make the old rules obsolete.

We can't leave people in abject poverty, so we need to raise the standard of living for 80% of the world's people, while bringing it down considerably for the 20% who are destroying our natural resources.

Earth is abundant with plentiful resources. Our practice of rationing resources through monetary control is no longer relevant and is counter-productive to our survival.

Diamonds are a key component in the campaign to make poverty history.

Developing nations want to become developed nations.

The human condition today is better than it's ever been, and technology is one of the reasons for that.

Poverty and backwardness in the midst of clear waters and verdant mountains is no good, nor is it to have prosperity and wealth while the environment deteriorates.

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.

If you look internationally over the last 50 years there have been improvements in the third world, but in the last 20 years the reverse has happened, with debt crises and increased poverty.