Hans Rosling quotes

Hans Rosling was a Swedish physician, educator, and public speaker renowned for making global development data accessible and understandable to all. His engaging presentations used visual aids and statistics to challenge common misconceptions about the world. He inspired millions by promoting fact-based optimism and a deeper understanding of global progress. Here are 19 of his quotes:

The number of children is not growing any longer in the world. We are still debating peak oil, but we have definitely reached peak child.

Hans Rosling

Beyond 2050 the world population may start to decrease if women across the world will have, on average, less than 2 children. But that decrease will be slow.

Hans Rosling

Every group of people I ask thinks the world is more frightening, more violent, and more hopeless-in short, more dramatic-than it really is.

Hans Rosling

Here's the paradox: the image of a dangerous world has never been broadcast more effectively than it is now, while the world has never been less violent and more safe.

Hans Rosling

When someone threatens you with a machete, never turn your back. Stand still. Look him straight in the eye and ask him what the problem is.

Hans Rosling

It this terrible simplification that there is one Africa, and things go on in one way in Africa. We have to stop that, it is not respectful, and it's not very clever to think that way. I had the fortune to live and work for a time in the United States. I found out that Salt Lake City and San Francisco were different. And so it is in Africa, it's a lot of difference. What do we think it would be concurrency? And what is concurrency? In Sweden, we have no concurrency. We have serial monogamy. Vodka New Year's Eve, new partner for the spring, vodka Midsummer Eve, new partner for the fall, vodka, and it goes on like this, you know, and you collect a big number of ex's, and we've got a terrible chlamydia epidemic.

Hans Rosling

My interest is not data, it's the world. And part of world development you can see in numbers. Others, like human rights, empowerment of women, it's very difficult to measure in numbers.

Hans Rosling

To get away from poverty, you need several things at the same time: school, health, and infrastructure - those are the public investments. And on the other side, you need market opportunities, information, employment, and human rights.

Hans Rosling

Avoid war, because that always pushes human beings backward.

Hans Rosling

I meet so many that think population growth is a major problem in regard to climate change. But the number of children born per year in the world has stopped growing since 1990. The total number of children below 15 years of age in the world are now relatively stable around 2 billion.

Hans Rosling

Data allow your political judgments to be based on fact, to the extent that numbers describe realities.

Hans Rosling

Keep track of gradual improvements. A small change every year can translate to a huge change in decades.

Hans Rosling

Eighteen fifty-eight was a year of great technological advancement in the West. That was the year when Queen Victoria was able, for the first time, to communicate with President Buchanan, through the Transatlantic Telegraphic Cable. And they were the first to 'Twitter' transatlantically.

Hans Rosling

What I'm really worried about is war. Will the former rich countries really accept a completely changed world economy, and a shift of power away from where it has been the last 50 to 100 to 150 years, back to Asia?

Hans Rosling

When I have an argument with someone, even with someone I am not very close with, I can't sleep at night thinking about it. It's terrible. But I still manage speak out frankly because I have also been gifted with the ability to read people. I can sense when they start to get irritated with me, and then, I shift.

Hans Rosling

Cancer is awful. It took 10 years until I didn't think about it every day. Nobody should go through this. Nobody.

Hans Rosling

Mr. Vice President. No numbers, no bubbles.

Hans Rosling