One exemplary act may affect one life, or even millions of lives. All those who set standards for themselves, who strengthen the bonds of community, who do their work creditably and accept individual responsibility, are building the common future.

I think that all human systems require continuous renewal. They rigidify. They get stuff in the joints. They forget what they cared about. The forces against it are nostalgia and the enormous appeal of having things the way they always have been, appeals to a supposedly happy past. But we've got to move on.

One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.

It is one of the ironies of history that reformers so often misjudge the consequences of their reforms.

There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure-all your life.

Renewal is not just innovation and change. It is also the process of bringing the results of change into line with our purposes.

One man interacting creatively with others can move the world.