We believe... that by encouraging critical thinking and processing of knowledge we are creating full, well-rounded human beings... that will enable Qatar to build up its society. You cannot build a healthy society without giving your citizens a sense of ownership. Otherwise, they will not share with you the responsibilities.

Sixty-six percent is the literacy rate in the Arab world. We have 58 million illiterate among adults in our part of the world.

I have lived with my husband more than I have with my parents... I live beside him, and know his worries, his hopes, and his dreams for his nation. We believe that things happen by design, not in an arbitrary way. And we believe it is our duty to make things happen.

Qatar is giving 2.8% of our GDP to research. This is something again that is a breakthrough, as nobody was even thinking of research as a tool or component for advancement in this part of the world.

Playing in my early bands, working as a studio musician, producing and going to art school was, in retrospect, my apprenticeship. I was learning and creating a solid foundation of ideas, but I wasn't really playing music.

Sesame Street' was built on the idea that a show that could capture a child's attention could also give the child an education. That idea turned out to be wildly successful.

In senior year at college, Paula Vogel was my playwriting teacher; she is the first person to introduce me to the notion that a woman could actually forge a career in the theatre. Up until then, the possibility seemed remote and inaccessible, as I had very few role models who directly touched my life.

Coming to understand a painting or a symphony in an unfamiliar style, to recognize the work of an artist or school, to see or hear in new ways, is as cognitive an achievement as learning to read or write or add.