If economic progress means that we become anonymous cogs in some great machine, then progress is an empty promise.

Most of us prefer to walk backward into the future, a posture that may be uncomfortable but which at least allows us to keep on looking at familiar things as long as we can.

Citizenship is the chance to make a difference to the place where you belong.

It is tempting to call for better leadership, but we probably expect too much from the leaders of the nations. Those nations are too big, the connections not strong enough, the commitment to the future not long enough. It is better to look smaller, to our now-smaller organisations, to local communities and cities, to families and clusters of friends, to small networks of portfolio people with time to give to something bigger than themselves. We have to fashion our own directions in our own places.

The sobering thought is that individuals and societies are not, in the end, remembered for how they made their money, but for how they spent it.

Creativity is born of chaos, even if it is somewhat difficult to glimpse the possibilities in the midst of the confusion.

A leader shapes and shares a vision, which gives point to the work of others.