If you had a front row seat at the Renaissance, you would have seen Machiavelli come by plotting, and you would have seen murders in the streets, you would have seen violence, you have seen people burning books and it would have looked like the world was a horrible place, but that's where all these incredible stuff we're still living with comes out of.

There's a creativity, a power, an energy, an ability to do things unlike any other period in history. It's a little bit like sitting in the Renaissance, but multiplied a thousand-fold.

The difference between people who can read and write and those who can't is just absolutely astronomical.

It is important that New York, in addition to its fashion, and finance, and tourism, and communications infrastructure, also begin developing venture infrastructure that's for real.

Three-quarters of the flags, borders and anthems sitting at the U.N. today were not there 60 some-odd years ago.

I've always been interested in why countries appear and disappear. And the curious thing is how often it happens.

There is a massive ecosystem that has to get built that looks like a biosphere. And the various parts of that biosphere better be there.