»Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so.«

»Die Perspektive, die wir einnehmen ist wichtiger als die Dinge, die wir betrachten. Die Möglichkeit, eine Perspektive gemeinsam zu finden, zu entwerfen, herzustellen, und die Welt verändert vorzufinden — weil es nun eine andere ist, Deine und meine.«

»The essential principle of business –of occupation in the world– is this: Figure out some way in which you get paid for playing.«