The interaction of genetic and external influences makes my behaviour unpredictable, but not undetermined. In the gap between those words lies freedom.

Futurology always ends up telling you more about your own time than about the future.

Society works not because we have consciously invented it, but because it is an ancient product of our evolved predispositions. It is literally in our nature.

It is not a zero sum game. The simple idea of the gains from trade lies at the heart of the modern and the ancient economy, not the power of capital. There is nothing else to it.

Intelligence will become more and more collective; innovation and order will become more and more bottom-up.

Prosperity has brought complications. Our lives are busier, faster, more stressful. They're nostalgic for a simpler, slower time.

A true scientist is bored by knowledge; it is the assault on ignorance that motivates him - the mysteries that previous discoveries have revealed.

The genome is a book that wrote itself, continually adding, deleting and amending over four billion years.

At some point, human intelligence became collective and cumulative in a way that happened to no other animal.

Our minds have been built by selfish genes, but they have been built to be social, trustworthy and cooperative.

Trade is 10 times as old as farming.

The best way to die is when your living

We become what we behold.

Canonical writing is born of an originality fused with tradition. – From the book jacket

Preparation for war is a constant stimulus to suspicion and ill will.

If I don't buy it, I can't sell it.

I still think that movies are amazing; I respect actors and directors.

I think what's important for kids to know is that your decisions here on earth matter, your behavior matters and how you treat other people matters.

You cannot have security at the expense of the insecurity of others.

In Paris there are two dens, one for thieves, the other for murderers. The den of thieves is the Stock Exchange; the den of murderers is the Courthouse.

I definitely work pretty hard to stay present and focused. I've also tried to create a life for myself where I'm surrounded by honest, loyal, and funny people, because I like to laugh.