I love those stretches where I've just been a writer - when I haven't been doing Internet start-ups - where I pretty much eliminate meetings from my life.

When you don't have to ask for permission innovation thrives.

Chance favors the connected mind.

Those that regularly come into contact with people having diverse interests and viewpoints are more likely to come up with innovative ideas.

If you look at where innovation - defined as ideas, not as commercial product - tends to live, the university system is remarkably innovative.

It is extraordinary how safe flying has become. You are now statistically more likely to be elected president of the United States in your lifetime than you are to die in a plane crash. What an amazing achievement as a society! But what we end up focusing on are the catastrophic failures that are incredibly rare but happen every now and then.

Some great minds become great by turning the rubble of an exploded paradigm into something consistent and meaningful. Others become great by laying the gunpowder, grain by grain. Every important revolution needs both kinds of minds to complete itself.