Paul Collier quotes: top famous quotes and sayings by Paul Collier

Top Paul Collier Quotes

Browse top 13 most favorite famous quotes and sayings by Paul Collier.

Favorite Paul Collier Quotes

1. "The critical changes in trade policy... are politically difficult not because they threaten interests (they don't) but because they do not fit into any of the current slogans and so don't make it onto the agenda." ~ Paul Collier

2. "Pressure works, but it needs to be organized. This is the domain of the NGOs and the rock stars." ~ Paul Collier

3. "Change in the societies at the very bottom must come predominantly from within; we cannot impose it on them." ~ Paul Collier

4. "And so a miserable but possible scenario is that countries in the bottom billion oscillate between the traps and limbo, perhaps switching in the process from one trap to another..Let me be clear: we cannot rescue them. The societies of the bottom billion can only be rescued from within. In every society of the bottom billion there are people working for change, but usually they are defeated by the powerful internal forces stacked against them. We should be helping the heroes. So far, our efforts have been paltry: through inertia, ignorance, and incompetence, we have stood by and watched them lose.Let me be clear: we cannot rescue them. These societies of the bottom billion can only be rescued from within." ~ Paul Collier

5. "Most conduct is guided by norms rather than by laws. Norms are voluntary and are effective because they are enforced by peer pressure." ~ Paul Collier

6. "Poverty is not intrinsically a trap, otherwise we would all still be poor." ~ Paul Collier

7. "The key obstacle to reforming aid is public opinion.. Public opinion drives them into the "I care" photo opportunities that dominate aid." ~ Paul Collier

8. "The aid agencies are not run by fools. they are full of intelligent people severely constrained by what public opinion permits." ~ Paul Collier

9. "Electorates tend to get the politicians they deserve." ~ Paul Collier

10. "Persuading everyone to behave decently to each other because the society is so fragile is a worthy goal, but it may be more straightforward just to make the societies less fragile, which means developing their economies." ~ Paul Collier

11. "Politicians would only move beyond gestures once there was a critical mass of informed citizens." ~ Paul Collier

12. "Rebels usually have something to complain about, and if they don't they make it up. All too often the really disadvantaged are in no position to rebel; they just suffer quietly." ~ Paul Collier

13. "Elections determine who is in power, but they do not determine how power is used." ~ Paul Collier

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Today's Quote

From that original colony sprang seven names that still feature on the landscape: Roanoke (which has the distinction of being the first Indian word borrowed by English settlers), Cape Fear, Cape Hatteras, the Chowan and Neuse Rivers, Chesapeake, and Virginia. (Previously, Virginia had been called Windgancon, meaning "what gay clothes you wear" - apparently what the locals had replied when an early reconnoitering party had asked the place's name.)"
Author: Bill Bryson