Confession time: I used to think that I was a self-made man. That where I was in life, my educational attainment, my achievements, were mainly attributable to my own hard work.

This is, of course, nonsense.

I have been lucky to count myself the architect of my life. But what life would I have without the teachers who taught me the principals of design, the investors who invested in me, the state which endowed me with power to carry out my vision, the surveyors who marked the solid ground and quicksand, and the builders who laid the foundations and brought their expertise to bear?

I remain eternally in debt and gratitude to family, friends, teachers, and countrymen who enabled my life to be filled with strength, utility, and delight.