The biggest determinant in our lives is culture, where we are born, what the environment looks like. But the second biggest determinant is probably governance, good governance or a certain kind of governance makes a huge difference in our lives.

Luckily the whole world is not like me, or else, there would be no world.

If you have things and if you are a perfectionist, which I am, you have to really tend to them, and it takes energy away from other things.

I wish I was a great writer or a great journalist or a great scientist or a great artist; I'm not.

California is a place of invention, a place of courage, a place of vision, a place of the future. People who made California what it is were willing to take risks, think outside convention and build.

At the end, the key thing is you've got to live with yourself. That's the real test. Everything else is fleeting.

Most countries in Africa have the capacity to be great agricultural producers, but they do only subsistence production. So a family will produce for themselves and nothing more. Why? Because of the systems: The markets are not there to go beyond.