Humanitarian Aid Quotes

“One week of my life produces enough electricity to power a hundred years of humanitarian intervention.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim

“We even save a few lives, but only a fraction of the lives that need to be saved. Soon, we will leave and when we leave there will be nothing to take our place. The meningitis epidemic, cholera, measles, typhoid fever, all preventable diseases, will return and continue as before. The only solution is a political solution, national public health programs, responsible corporations who reap only as much as they sow. Shell Oil with a conscience. Nigeria doesn't need us. What we do here is less than nothing. We take the pressure off the powers that be, making it easier for those who plunder to keep on plundering. This is the humanitarian aid paradox.”
― Pamela Grim, Just Here Trying to Save a Few Lives: Tales of Life and Death from the ER

“Humanitarianism may be appropriate during an emergency phase but beyond that it is counter-productive.”
― Alexander Betts, Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System

“Luz, lux, noor - light by any name brings the same illumination.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Light by any name brings the same illumination.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“Every generation needs a janitor,
Every era needs an exterminator.
Every tierra needs a transformer,
Every generation needs a generator.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence

“If a tree falls in a forest, and you are not there, it is okay that you do not hear. But if a child cries in a warzone, and you are not there, is it still okay that you do not hear?”
― Abhijit Naskar, Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission

“Peace begins where prejudice ends.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Corazon Calamidad: Obedient to None, Oppressive to None

“If you are to be human, rejecting the society's rampant psychosis of nationalism, you are bound to become an object of an insane amount of hate. The west will hate you for meddling without citizenship, the east will hate you for being a traitor, or vice versa. Despite all this unbearable hate if you can uphold your humanity with a smile, then - you shall be human - then, you shall be an armor of the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Her Insan Ailem: Everyone is Family, Everywhere is Home

“The greatest humanitarians are silent humanitarians, who live their mission with zero claim to applause.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Vande Vasudhaivam: 100 Sonnets for Our Planetary Pueblo

“The current system for refugees who remain in their region of origin is a disaster. It is premised upon an almost exclusively 'humanitarian' response. A system designed for the emergency phase - to offer an immediate lifeline - ends up enduring year after year, sometimes decade after decade. External provision of food, clothing, and shelter is absolutely essential in the aftermath of having to run for your life. But over time, if it is provided as a substitute for access to jobs, education, and other opportunities, humanitarian aid soon undermines human dignity and autonomy.”
― Alexander Betts, Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System

“Imagine if, instead of the humanitarian silo, we could conceive of an approach that could support refugees' autonomy and dignity while simultaneously empowering them to contribute to host communities and the eventual reconstruction of their country of origin.”
― Alexander Betts, Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System

“There is no time for patience - there is no time for diplomacy - there is no time for policies, legislations and meaningless paperwork. It's enough already. Either stand up and rush to the aid of these war-stricken communities through whichever means possible or keep your mouth shut for the rest of your life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Hurricane Humans: Give me accountability, I'll give you peace

“World first and forever, nation never.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“We don’t need to build a world with one superpower,
We gotta build a world where the world is superpower.
We don’t need a world rotting in diplomatic gutter,
Let’s build a world that has no geopolitical clutter.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iman Insaniyat, Mazhab Muhabbat: Pani, Agua, Water, It's All One

“Mission over Recognition (The Sonnet)

Let me show you what is
action without expectation!
What is it to do your duty,
without regard for recognition!

Quite often I lose count of my works,
Yet I've never had a fancy book launch.
I write in silence, I release in silence,
I have no relation to praise and applause.

I am the peak of humanitarian literature,
All without an ounce of support or award.
I am not a writer, I am world reformer,
My first concern is an integrated world.

Whatever happens next, know that it had
nothing to do with the making of a mission.
It's easy to bask in the glory of the sun,
not so much to fuel solar combustion.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavatan: 100 Demilitarization Sonnets

“I may not be your blood brother,
In me you have a heart brother.
I may disappear in your happy days,
In difficult times I'll surely appear.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Dervis Vadisi: 100 Promissory Sonnets

“In crisis, a civilian wonders, how can I save my family - a politician wonders, how can I save myself - a humanitarian wonders, how can I save the world!”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Humanitarian Dictator

“Where God retreats, Human must step in.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Humanitarian Dictator

“Ignore the flag, focus on fervor -
Attend to the people beyond the pole.
Bring down such rags that spread hate,
Hoist your heart as beacon to the whole.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The Humanitarian Dictator

“Humanitarianism is civilization.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim

“Give me a hundred humanitarian hearts, I'll wipe out the very concept of war.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim

“Fundamentalists radicalize children for illegal terrorism, nationalists radicalize children for legal terrorism, I radicalize children for peace-n-oneness... Give me a hundred humanitarian hearts, I'll wipe out the very concept of war. Pack your flags with other talismans, there is no greater superstition than the superstition of nation.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim

“Peace will come in our time, when we make time for peace.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Little Planet on The Prairie: Dunya Benim, Sorumluluk Benim

“For every church, mosque, and temple you build, if you're not building ten schools and hospitals, to provide affordable education and healthcare, you are serving none but your own delusions, for holiness unfolds in human welfare.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“You don't wake up to a better world, you toil through the dead of night, so the world wakes up civilized.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“Do I have any right to happiness, when millions go without food and shelter!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“Allergic to Opulence (Sonnet 2230)

Do I have any right to happiness,
when millions go without food and shelter!
That's why, there's not a trace of luxury in my life,
I churn out humanitarian electricity all waking hours.

Most expensive clothes I own cost 20 dollars,
most expensive devices I own cost 200 dollars.
Born to a factory worker, I never knew luxury,
then I made me a name, but saw the world's condition,
I grew an absolute repulsion to lifestyle luxurious.

The question is not, how much can I enjoy,
but how much can I endure to lift up the world!
Life's meaning comes not from what we gain for
ourselves, but from what we give up for others.

I'm existentially allergic to opulence,
every soft bed feels like a betrayal -
expensive meals scream of starving children,
dollar spent on luxury is a dollar animal.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“In every crisis, I anchor my decisions on a single test: does this action save lives, reduce suffering, and meet the real needs of affected people”
― Victor Manan Nyambala

“I don't live, I combust
(Constitution of Humanity, S.2708)

I'm not a nerd,
I'm the manufacturing plant
of humanitarian nerds,
whose nationality is humanity,
whose worship is reason,
whose madness is world uplift,
whose culture is integration.

I don't think, I roar.
I don't write, I pour.
I don't live, I combust,
so you may outgrow the shore.

I'm not a citizen of the planet,
I'm the Engine of Earth Society.
I'm bound by no constitution,
I'm the Constitution of Humanity.

Cleansed of all newage gullibility,
immunized against organized bigotry,
neither vegetable nor animal,
cometh the call, cometh the tsunami.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Nazmahal: Palace of Grace