I would say that my parents were supportive of me.

Details create the big picture.

If a person is not willing to make a mistake, you're never going to do anything right.

If we build something great, like we have at Travelers Group so far, a whole host of people benefit.

I think the American Dream says that anything can happen if you work hard enough at it and are persistent, and have some ability. The sky is the limit to what you can build, and what can happen to you and your family.

What turned me on then, and turns me on even today - and when the time comes from me to retire from management I think I'd still be interested in it - is that everything that happens in the world affects the price of securities.

I wonder how many people would have thought at the end of World War II that the capitalist system would be one that was meeting the challenges and making things better for people as we approach the 21st century.