The government is there day in and day out, if you want all kids to have education, if you want to run courts, if you want to have an army, if you want to have roads, you've got to have the taxation system that funds everything that you expect.

I think it makes sense to believe in God, but exactly what decision in your life you make differently because of it, I don't know.

I've always been amazed by Da Vinci, because he worked out science on his own. He would work by drawing things and writing down his ideas. Of course, he designed all sorts of flying machines way before you could actually build something like that.

Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana.

It's OK for China to invent cancer drugs that cure patients in the United States. We want them to catch up. But as the leader, we want to keep setting a very, very high standard. We don't want them to catch up because we're slowing down or, even worse, going into reverse.

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

When a country has the skill and self-confidence to take action against its biggest problems, it makes outsiders eager to be a part of it.