Activism that challenges the status quo, that attacks deeply rooted problems, is not for the faint of heart.

The sense of possibility so necessary for success comes not just from inside us or from our parents. It comes from our time: from the particular opportunities that our place in history presents us with.

I write my books to challenge my own feelings and theories. Perhaps most surprising was what I learned about rice farming. It was really interesting to think of how different Asian and Western cultures are as a result of the kinds of agricultural practices that our ancestors used for thousands of years. The life of a Chinese peasant in the Middle Ages was so dramatically different from the life of a European peasant - night and day different.

Activism that challenges the status quo, that attacks deeply rooted problems, is not for the faint of heart.

Often a sign of expertise is noticing what doesn't happen.

Without the New York Times, there is no blog community. They'd have nothing to blog about.

You don't want to be first, right? You want to be second or third. You don't want to be - Facebook is not the first in social media. They're the third, right? Similarly, you know, if you look at Steve Jobs' history, he's never been first.