Everything I did, and I think everything Martin Luther King did, was because we allowed our lives to be in tune with what we felt to be a divine purpose. And it didn’t matter whether we lived or died. It didn’t matter how much money we made, or what we accomplished.

I would hope that most of you will in fact strive for leadership in a principled manner with values, because that would be the foundation that this country needs to have if it is to take its place in the world. I would hope that each of you would lead by example and that each of you would live by the principles that you espouse.

You never follow the crowd. You work things out for yourself. And therefore if you think differently from the crowd, you must put your own view and try to get people taking your line. But you never follow the crowd. You never do things just because other people are doing them.

Scientists are people who are curious and want to pursue knowledge and pursue truth, and this still remains the most timeless and priceless value of a scientific career. My advice to an early-career scientist is to remain true to your passion and curiosity and that sense of mission to discover knowledge and uncover innovation. It's also very important to be using the tools of the moment, of the century. There are a lot of new tools to uplevel our own scientific research and scientific quest.

Proceed slowly and take care. […] To ensure that you proceed slowly, write by hand.