What happens if your legacy was that you created a new era, like the Renaissance? That would be cool. Very, very ambitious, but super fun to explore.
— Jesper Kouthoofd“What they meant was, 'Do you have someone at work with whom you can discuss personal matters?' Only 30% of workers affirmed they had such a connection at work. However, this 30% demonstrated significantly higher job engagement, superior performance, and less likelihood to leave their job for a more enticing offer.”— Robert J. Waldinger
The quote archive
Creativity
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
A lot of people, when they create an object, do an analysis of what will sell, rather than what they believe in themselves.
— Jesper KouthoofdWhen people laugh and say, no, we can't do it, then I know we have to do it.
— Jesper KouthoofdThat's the reason why I tend to say that B2B brand stands for "Boring to Boring" branding. Today, people fundamentally believe that business to business branding has to be incredibly serious… My view is that you should infuse a little bit of emotion into it.
— Martin LindstromLeading Brand Expert, Author & Neuromarketing Researcher
Opportunities generally arise from landscape change. But entrepreneurial ideas can come from anywhere. They can come from recognizing where the pain points, the bottlenecks, and the inefficiencies are. They can come from late-night conversations with friends, or from random eureka moments.
— Robin LiFounder and CEO of Baidu, China's leading search engine company
We write for the same reason that we walk, talk, climb mountains or swim the oceans- because we can… We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings… That's why we paint, that's why we dare to love someone- because we have the impulse to explain who we are.
— Maya AngelouRenowned poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist; author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
A designer is a designer, whether you're designing a dress or a toothbrush. The integrity, skill and creativity are all the same.
— Anne KleinIconic Fashion Designer & Founder of Anne Klein Fashion Brand
A brand has to be authentic and be born of a personal passion. If you, its creator, doesn't want the product, no one else will. If you want it, chances are it will be wanted around the world. Desires are universal and speak in every language.
— Donna KaranRenowned Fashion Designer & Founder of DKNY Brand
We are born creative and often seek to transform our surroundings to suit our existence. Everything around us constantly changes and so creative options for adapting to this change become the only guarantee we have for a meaningful existence.
— Calestous JumaHarvard Professor of International Development & Innovation Policy Expert
At WeWork, we believe creators are anyone that's pursuing their passions and contributing to a mission. You may be an artist who is working on an innovative new project, a freelance software engineer providing client services or a director of HR at a Fortune 500 company that's trying to build a dynamic work environment for employees – regardless of your company size, title or function, you are working towards creating meaning, intention and purpose within your life.
— Miguel McKelveyCo-founder of WeWork, co-working space company
'Brand,' is what journalists and industry-people say… we say culture movement. As artists we say culture! Movement! And analysts say brand. I don't know what a brand is, but I know what a freakin' movement is…
— will.i.amGrammy-winning rapper, producer, and member of The Black Eyed Peas
The workplace of the future is hard to predict specifically, but one thing we can predict is that we will increasingly rely on human intelligence and creativity as opposed to human capacity to perform repetitive tasks.
— Stewart ButterfieldCo-Founder of Slack, Former CEO & Creator of Flickr
As comedians, our main charity engagement for such a long time had been the tradition of the Secret Policeman's Ball, a way of saying comedians care… they'll be as funny as they can…. they'll make money for a cause… but the event had close to no connection with the cause at all! When I did Comic Relief, the aim was to be as funny as possible, to get as much of an audience as possible, and leverage the fact that comedians are often seen as people's friends, and normal people, not as intellectuals.
— Richard CurtisBritish Film Director & Screenwriter of Romantic Comedies
We are all creative beings, but we're brought up being told not to colour outside the lines – but why? It's OK to be different…. It's more than OK to be different, and we need to encourage that. Art has been the most freeing and therapeutic thing I can do.
— Rose McGowanActress & #MeToo activist who exposed Harvey Weinstein harassment
No one wakes up eager to write because it often reveals your shortcomings. It's like staring at your face in a mirror for two hours—after a few minutes, all you see are flaws. Discipline sees me through those self-doubts.
— Kareem Abdul-JabbarNBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion
We were poor, had no branding, and had no money- the only way we could get people into store was to put everything on rollers, and move it to the side, so we could have yoga classes in the middle of the store- a lot of inventions come from the mother of necessity!
— Chip WilsonFounder of Lululemon Athletica, Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist