When I was growing up, my parents told me, 'Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.' I tell my daughters, 'Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job.'

When I think back on my favorite teachers, I don't remember anymore much of what they taught me, but I sure remember being excited about learning it. What has stayed with me are not the facts they imparted, but the excitement about learning they inspired.

We've gone from thinking the fuels that powered our growth were inexpensive, inexhaustible and benign to understanding they are exhaustible, expensive and toxic. Once you frame the problem that way, people will look at solutions differently.

Presidents grow up in the White House. The times shape the man.

My calling was first of all to ensure there was peace in the country, because we could easily have gone back to war. In the midst of the country, there were still warlords; there were many child soldiers who had never gone to school - they were part of the social setting - compromises had to be made.

Clashes of values and the struggle for primacy constitute a constant in human history that accounts for that other constant - conflict and war.

Both the Venezuelan and American people will be better served by a negotiated solution between Maduro and Guaido than by a conflict that leads to increased instability and violence.

From 1836, down to last year, there is no proof of the Government having any confidence in the duration of peace, or possessing increased security against war.