"No matter where you’re born or who your parents are, it seems to me that we all start out with a mixture of circumstances, with both darkness and light. Some of us experience more of one than the other. And I believe there is an inextricable link between us and our ancestors, that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s that encountering adversity, as I have, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s what we make of it, how we use it to shape ourselves and our futures, that ultimately determines our success and happiness."