«Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.»

«Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.... Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.»

«There's a basic human weakness inherent in all people which tempts them to want what they can't have and not want what is readily available to them.»

«Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.»

«Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.»

«Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.»

«Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.»

«Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically - for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist - but then what isn't?»

«Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.»

«Security represents your sense of worth, your identity, your emotional anchorage, your self-esteem, your basic personal strength or lack of it.»