After learning the language and culture of the Chinese people, these Jesuits began to establish contacts with the young intellectuals of the country.

In such diffused changes of culture two factors are necessary: contact and understanding.

Within my own life, I read all the beloved novels by lamps of vegetable oil; I saw the Standard Oil invading my own village, I saw gas lamps in the Chinese shops in Shanghai; and I saw their elimination by electric lights.

No student of Chinese history can say that the Chinese are incapable of religious experience, even when judged by the standards of medieval Europe or pious India.

What I've really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.

For more than 20 years, Camfed has supported a generation of African girls and women with access to secondary and higher education, employment opportunities, and, ultimately, into positions of leadership.

There is usually an 'X factor' that is hard to define. For HTC, I think it is our culture. We embrace the best of our Eastern roots and combine it with the best of the Western cultures where we have leadership and offices. It makes the culture colorful as well as energetic and creative.

Being a mentor and a leader, I've always urged guys, if you're ever allowed to be a free agent, to take advantage of that opportunity.