I've always been baffled by how much we over-rate the statistically insignificant differences that separate competitors at the top end of the distribution.

There will be statues of Bill Gates across the Third World. There's a reasonable shot that - because of his money - we will cure malaria.

What is learned out of hard work and trial is inevitably more powerful than what is learned easily.

Who we are cannot be separated from where we're from.

When it's easy to make money, you have no incentive to think about development of talent.

Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the “work” will be done by 20 percent of the participants. In most societies, 20 percent of criminals commit 80 percent of crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of all accidents. Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionality becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work.

There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.