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.

We vary greatly in the natural advantages that we've been given. The world's not fair

Emotion is contagious.

Happiness, in one sense, is a function of how closely our world conforms to the infinite variety of human preference.

Once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it. And what's more, the people at the very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.

People can't do much about the fate part, but we can certainly do a lot about the man part.

To be someone's best friend requires a minimum investment of time. More than that, though, it takes emotional energy. Caring about someone deeply is exhausting.