I have never met a villager who does not want a vote.

Democracy is not simply a question of structures. It is a state of mind. It is an activity.

The question shouldn't be what we ought to do, but what we can do.

I had been walking one afternoon in Scotland and thought: Why don't I just keep going? There was, I said, a magic in leaving a line of footprints stretching across Asia.

This idea that failure is not an option: It makes failure invisible, inconceivable and inevitable.

The world isnt one way or another. Things can be changed very, very rapidly by someone with sufficient confidence, sufficient knowledge and sufficient authority.

Despite the dubious statistics … democracy is a thing of value for which we should be fighting.

If democracy is to be rebuilt … it is necessary not just for the public to learn to trust their politicians, but for the politicians to learn to trust the public.

Religions . . . seem to avoid mountain passes.

I had a lot of romantic notions about what it would mean to cross Asia by foot.

In some sense, I'm a romantic. I like the idea of organic history and tradition.

I find out of long experience that I admire all nations and hate all governments

And that was my homecoming. It was fine, I guess. Getting back feels like your first breath after nearly drowning. Even if it hurts, it's good.

The desire of reward is one of the strongest incentives of human conduct; ... the best security for the fidelity of mankind is to make their interest coincide with their duty.

There seemed to be some correlation between devotion to God and a misguided zeal for marshmallows.

One of the most powerful feelings in the world is after a really, really long run.

I remember growing up with television, from the time it was just a test pattern, with maybe a little bit of programming once in a while.

Playing against someone like Roger Federer is not easy. I had my chance today, but I guess I made a lot of errors. But I have no complaints.

Always get rid of theory private object in this way: assume that it constantly changes, but that you do not notice the change because your memory constantly deceives you.

I want to live quietly.