Whereas our common past, out of Africa, saw a global diaspora of humankind, our common future depends on a global coming together and consensus, resulting in a more equitable distribution of the Earth's largesse. When Africa, which gave us the wealth of life, has that debt returned, the world will have come of age.

I am not a conventionally religious man, but in the wilderness I have come closest to finding myself and knowing the universe and accepting God - by which I mean accepting all that I don't know.

Behind every successful man there's a lot of unsuccessful years.

Real life security and contentment come not from putting a gun in the cupboard, but from taking a role in the world's future.

I have never met a person in whom I did not see myself reflected.

We people of the Earth exist because our potential was there in the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, as the universe exploded into being.

The pursuit of eternity is no longer the prerogative of the gods - it is the business of us all, here and now.