One thing is certain: you will find plenty of worthwhile things to do. You will not be bored, or lack fulfillment in your life. Most important of all, you will know that you have not lived and died for nothing, because you will have become part of the great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make the world a better place.

Knowing that we can control our own behaviour makes it more likely that we will.

Scholars have long dreamed of a universal library containing everything that has ever been written.

Surely there will be some nonhuman animals whose lives, by any standards, are more valuable than the lives of some humans.

We need to recognise that what really matters isn't buying more and more consumer goods, but family, friends, and knowing that we are doing something worthwhile with our lives. Helping to reduce the appalling consequences of world poverty should be part of that reassessment.

If we're going to live an ethical life, it's not enough just to follow the thou-shalt-nots. … If we have enough, we have to share some of that with people who have so little.

If we all think only of our own interests, we are headed for collective disaster - just look at what we are doing to our planet's climate.