I'm a humanist and an optimist.

People struggle most with seeing new ways of doing things and often need help in breaking through their tradition-bound mindsets.

Skilled leaders focus on "we," not "me."

We all want to have a rich and meaningful work life and a fulfilling life beyond work.

"Leading" is about mobilizing people toward valued goals.

Firms that fully embrace the needs and interests of the whole person will win today's competition for the best talent.

Knowing what matters most, what I call "being real," is the alpha and omega for leaders.

When employers no longer offer secure full-time employment with benefits, then it's hard to expect employees to be loyal, engaged, and maximally productive.

Curiosity about the world and questioning of the status quo to open minds to alternative visions of the future are essential leadership skills. And they can be learned.

The worst thing you can do, despite the innumerable obstacles we confront, is to not try.

The principles that apply to engagement for employees are the same as those that apply to supervisors.

If you love books enough, books will love you back.

That's the thing - I've never really been single. I always end up in a relationship immediately.

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.

Pay attention to the hungry, both in this country and around the world. Pay attention to the poor. Pay attention to our responsibilities for world peace. We are our brother's keeper.

...Don't let me ever hear you say, 'I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth.' Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of 'literature'? That means fiction, too, stupid.

I like having some things very clear while other things are obscured... so that it kind of keeps coming into and out of focus.

The origins of poetry are clearly rooted in obscurity, in secretiveness, in incantation, in spells that must at once invoke and protect, tell the secret and keep it.

Some British actors are snobby about telly, and I don't understand that.

I have adopted the Roman sentiment, that it is more honorable to save a citizen than to kill an enemy.

I wonder anybody does anything at Oxford but dream and remember, the place is so beautiful. One almost expects the people to sing instead of speaking. It is all like an opera.