Do not always say no. If satisfied with the seat in place and not reckless, the next 20 years you will still sit there alone

Persist - don't take no for an answer. If you're happy to sit at your desk and not take any risk, you'll be sitting at your desk for the next 20 years.

The world is a complicated place, and there's a lot of division between people. The performing arts tend to unify people in a way nothing else does.

When I worked in the White House for President Carter, we tried to do comprehensive tax reform and we made some progress, and other presidents have as well.

People used to think that private equity was basically just a compensation scheme, but it is much more about making companies more efficient.

I am involved in a lot of nonprofits. And when I reached the ripe old age of 60, I wanted to provide leadership to some I had been involved in.

I really hope that the philanthropy movement is seen not just as wealthy people giving money away but wealthy people giving away their time, their energy and their ideas.

I regard food as fuel. I am not a brunch person.

Sometimes the best decisions in life are on the spur of the moment. So I generally try to do what I think is right. And sometimes I make mistakes.

I'm blessed by the fact I only need five hours of sleep on a daily basis. I do tend to regard Saturday and Sunday as work days.

I realised how rich I had become and I asked myself, 'Do I really want to be the richest person in the cemetery?

One thing you can't hide - is when you're crippled inside.

Sadness makes you notice the goodness.

God's miracles are to be found in nature itself the wind and waves the wood that becomes a tree - all of these are explained biologically but behind them is the hand of God.

Without animals, there would be no humanity. In a world of just people, people will mean nothing . . .

'I've got my warrior name, too!' - 'Crookedjaw?' - 'How did you guess?' A purr rumbled in his throat. 'Beacuse your tail's still straight.'

My recent drawings that personal ones aren't fashion-related. I sometimes sit and draw people on the bus, or some fantasy hybrid animal. You know, wherever the hand will lead.

Well, I think there's a distinction between sexing-up the intelligence and sexing-up the presentation of the intelligence.

It is the mind that makes one wise or ignorant, bound or emancipated.

Sometimes the most exciting journey you can make is through your own imagination.

The easier it is to do something, the harder it is to change the way you do it.