We went all the way down the Himalayan chain for a day and a half. That was magnificent, except the Chinese told us they were going to shoot us down if we came out the far end. So I spent a lot of my time contacting former Prime Minister Tony Blair begging him to tell the Chinese we were coming in this direction by mistake and could he please say we have no nasty motives for flying into their territory.

I have always believed that the only way to cope with a cash crisis is not to contract but to try to expand out of it.

Unless you dream, you're not going to achieve anything.

Nobody's ever called me Sir Richard. Occasionally in America, I hear people saying Sir Richard and think there's some Shakespearean play taking place. But nowhere else anyway.

Run lean; avoid unnecessary expenses.

The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me

It's better to say nothing than spend 1,000 words or an hour speech saying nothing. Get to the point.