I think that persistence and stubbornness and hard work are probably, at the end of the day, more important than the willingness to take a risk.

Achievement is talent plus preparation. The problem with this view is that the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play.

The Law of the Few... says that one critical factor in epidemics is the nature of the messenger.

When people reflexively write checks to institutions that have billions of dollars in the bank, they are essentially committing a moral crime. Your money could do good in this world and you're choosing instead to waste it. People have to do a better job of that. You've got to find places where your money's going to do some good and direct your dollars towards that institution.

The face is not a secondary billboard for our internal feelings. It is an equal partner in the emotional process.

That was it! The whole Redwood City philosophy was based on a willingness to try harder than anyone else.

The poorer children were, to her mind, often better behaved, less whiny, more creative in making use of their own time, and have a well-developed sense of independence.