You know, development sometimes is viewed as a project in which you give people things and nothing much happens, which is perfectly valid, but if you just focus on that, then you'd also have to say that venture capital is pretty stupid, too. Its hit rate is pathetic. But occasionally, you get successes, you fund a Google or something, and suddenly venture capital is vaunted as the most amazing field of all time. Our hit rate in development is better than theirs, but we should strive to make it better.

There's a basic philosophy here that by empowering...workers you'll make their jobs far more interesting, and they'll be able to work at a higher level than they would have without all that information just a few clicks away.

Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives.

Natural epidemics can be extremely large. Intentionally caused epidemics, bioterrorism, would be the largest of all.

I try to make time for reading each night. In addition to the usual newspapers and magazines, I make it a priority to read at least one newsweekly from cover to cover. If I were to read what intrigues me- say, the science and business sections - then I would finish the magazine the same person I was when I started. So I read it all.

China is certainly an important player in the global economy, and a widespread AIDS epidemic would threaten that growth.

In almost every area of human endeavor, the practice improves over time. That hasn't been the case for teaching.