Esther Dyson

“Change means that what was before wasn't perfect. People want things to be better.”

“I have a short attention span. I couldn't stay doing the same thing for 30 years.”

“I have had the same apartment in New York City for almost 40 years but have actually lived in it for less than half of that time, owing to a busy travel schedule.”

“I think I have the right to know what Steve Forbes paid in taxes - I don't think there should be a law. I think there should be a presumption. I wouldn't vote for a guy who wouldn't reveal what he paid in taxes. That kind of thing.”

“In the space of three weeks, I met a fair bunch of the guys who were just starting those little programmers' co-ops, and everybody was talking about starting businesses.”

“Since I was 18, I have swum for 50 minutes every day, missing less than one day a year except for a two-week stint when I was training as a cosmonaut in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in March 2009.”

“My parents are both scientists. They like order.”

“The challenge of ensuring adequate, nutrient-rich food for an expanding global population is a daunting one, especially given constraints on key resources like water and agricultural land.”

“You should not want to be a politician because you want to be president. You should be a politician because you want to fix the world or represent a movement.”