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 learnt more from my failures than my successes.

I'm sure if Brawn GP keep plying me with champagne and putting gorgeous Virgin girls either side of me, you never know!

I believe that drudgery and clock-watching are a terrible betrayal of that universal, inborn entrepreneurial spirit.

The jet stream is a very strong force and pushing a balloon into it is like pushing up against a brick wall, but once we got into it, we found that, remarkably, the balloon went whatever speed the wind went.

Good people have always been at the heart of the Virgin business, and that's largely because we have tried to keep our business small, and our management teams tight-knit. I feel that small, compact companies, are better run. That is partly because people feel more connected in small companies.

Not enough people realize the satisfaction you can get from really pushing yourself to the limits.