We got to make sure we are involved and realize that now is the moment and we have agency, what we do is going to impact all of our lives in our children's lives.

For young people worldwide, my message is that the future is in our hands. We must act now. We must influence decisions that affect us.

We're at that kind of moment where we really have to understand that everyone is totally connected and everyone is important.

Touching the present moment, we realize that the present is made of the past and is creating the future.

It is not the present which influences the future, thou fool, but the future which forms the present. You have it all backward. Since the future is set, an unfolding of events which will assure that future is fixed and inevitable.

When you speak the future, you shape the future.

The future depends on what we do in the present.

In truth, we don't know which of our acts in the present will shape the future. But we have to behave as if everything we do matters. Because it might.

It is an exciting and dangerous time, for this generation of Americans has the opportunity so rarely granted to others by fate and history. We literally have the chance to shape the future - to put our own stamp on the face and character of America, to bend history just a little bit.

Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those changes that would make all the difference.

In short, I believe the future is ours to shape. Our economies are booming. Our political influence is growing. And our ability has never been stronger. Our populations are youthful and energetic. Our thinkers, researchers and scientists are globally renowned. Our culture is internationally acclaimed. Our private sector companies are some of the world’s largest and most profitable. We can only achieve [these] goals, if we work together… because our success, is dependent on our neighbour's success; economic stagnation in one part of our region, dampens prosperity in another; instability in one member state, causes insecurity for us all.

Every ordinary moment is an opportunity to make the future easier or harder. It all depends on whether you’re thinking clearly.

We are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we are so deeply interconnected with one another.

The present moment
contains past and future.
The secret of transformation,
is in the way we handle this very moment.