From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We wouldn't want to live in a world of full transparency. That is a world where I can see into your brain, and you into mine. We all need privacy for our thoughts, and inside government we need politicians and advisers to be able to explore ideas in private.
I want to free everyone from that misconception. You can't know everything. And when you shift from a personal attribution for not knowing—thinking, 'I don't know, but everyone else seems to, so I'll fake it or avoid the situation'—to a universal attribution—realizing, 'I don't know, you don't know, nobody knows'—you stand taller. This allows you to embrace what I believe is the most successful mindset: confident uncertainty.
In higher states of consciousness, we also lose our fear of death. The transcendent you is not in time. Only thought exists in time… only perception exists in time…
It's not success we should be seeking but consonance, alignment, flow. When what we do actually matters to us. We are being called upon to solve a problem at hand, to use what we do best in the world, and in turn being rewarded for in a way that is meaningful to us.
The difference now is that our actions are not isolated. Developments in communication mean that we now engage in a subtle yet continual process of peer-review which assesses the morality of our conduct as societies and individuals.
I don't label it as a self-care or self-help book; I describe it as a self-destruct book. The reason for this unconventional title stems from the inherent problem with self-care: we are often our own worst caregivers. Left to our own devices, we tend to blow things out of proportion and expect the world to change to make us happy.
This principle demands careful consideration of protection that must be given to civilians and civilian property, balancing military objectives against foreseeable collateral damage. This balance cannot be made by a formulaic algorithm – there isn't one – but by human judgment.
Hope is the only choice I have. What gives me hope is that people are able to find love and humanity in their hearts in spite of everything that is happening here in Ukraine.
We are part of the continuum of evolution, and [we] are not the only beings on the Earth with personalities, minds, thoughts and feelings.
Curiosity drives human progress; it helps us understand our world and that's what drew me to leave my home. I had this curiosity, like Isaac Newton when he saw the apple fall and wondered why.
I didn't know that having face to face contact with people and being curious would be my medication…. And would save me. I didn't know curiosity was going to become a superpower in my life.
Art is necessary for the human mind. Art is about our dreams, fears, and imagination. Art is about everything outside of the system. It is a death sentence for art when it is within the system.