Only caring individuals can restore the places we inhabit. The 'simple act of planting a tree' not only restores the places we live, but makes us whole and powerful again.

Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.

Most floods are caused by man, not weather; deforestation, levee construction, erosion, and overgrazing all result in the loss of ecosystem services.

All is connected ... no one thing can change by itself.

What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

Business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the changes necessary to reverse global environments and social degradation.

The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and enduring, and thus more intelligent, even competitive.

The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them

Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other single factor.

Don't be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic, not the dreamer.

Life changes us. To wish otherwise is pointless.

Public services are never better performed than when their reward comes only in consequence of their being performed, and is proportioned to the diligence employed in performing them.

An original pebble is better than a counterfeit diamond.

My ability to make up lies on the spot chills me as much as it saves me.

Create inclusion - with simple mindfulness that others might have a different reality from your own.

Don't mistake pleasures for happiness. They are a different breed of dog.

You are not a country, Africa. You are a concept… You are not a concept, Africa. You are a glimpse of the infinite.

Morality or duty never yet made a man happy in himself or dear to others.

Music is truly the universal language, and when it is excellently expressed how deeply it moves our souls

Don't get discouraged: it is often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.