“To understand the difficulty of predicting the next 100 years, we have to appreciate the difficulty that the people of 1900 had in predicting the world of 2000.”

“The Population Reference Bureau predicts that the world's total population will double to 7,000,000,000 before the year 2000.I suppose they will all want dignity, I said.”

“Once we understand how they think, we can predict their behaviour. And once we predict it well, we can manipulate it. That is diplomacy.”

“Some 1.2 billion people in the world still have too little to eat; the same number today suffer from being overweight…..For the first time in 100 years medical experts are predicting that life expectancy in developed countries will fall. Thanks to obesity our children face the prospect of dying younger than us.”

“Understanding people’s difficulties and—just as crucial—helping people understand their own difficulties and teaching them concrete ways to help themselves will help them better deal with their own lives and, in turn, ours.”

“I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat.”