Philosophy

Flight is a very quick way to get from A to B. It's also a very good way to escape from predators who are stuck on the ground. The question to be asked is why doesn't everybody fly?

Evolutionary Biologist & Author of "The Selfish Gene

The Economics that we operate under is all about the goal of attaining infinite growth, but we know we cannot infinitely grow and live a good life.

We have to be aware of our cognitive fallacies to build some immunity to our cognitive traps. One simple thing we can all do is work on our own confirmation bias from time to time. I try to read things by people I disagree with for example, because I want to hear their best arguments and see whether my beliefs and values stand-up to them.

Truth is a quality of reality. It has nothing to do with what I believe. Truth, when it comes to empirical issues, is an objective thing. Whether something is true or not is independent of whether I think it is true or not, and a lot of people confuse this. People say that we cannot trust science because once-upon-a-time scientists held it true that the earth was flat; that's not correct. It was never true that the earth was flat, even if people believed it.

I've said to my children, and grandchildren, that if you do the right thing – there's no guarantee that the right thing will happen. That's the way of the world. If you do the wrong thing however, you'll face karma. If you do the wrong thing? At some point in your life, something bad is going to happen to you.

Creator and star of TV show "Judge Judy" for 25 years

When I got better, even simple things like being able to wake-up, go for a walk, speak, and observe life, felt viscerally stunning and good. I found a state of being – a state that gave me perspective and feeling about life and my place in it.

Georgian-British singer-songwriter known for "Nine Million Bicycles

I don't think of what I do solely as an expression of me and my life; it's more that I'm someone who loves what happens when a great song comes into my life. I become still. I see life as beautiful… majestic. I feel more like the song is doing something for me rather than me doing something to make the song… or to do to the song.

Georgian-British singer-songwriter known for "Nine Million Bicycles

What are you responsible for and what are you not responsible for? That's a fundamental question in life. If we start feeling bad about things over which we have no control, that is the inevitable source of a downward spiral.

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

Regrets tell you what you value. We need to think about regrets as photographic negatives of the good life. Each regret reveals what we want out of life. We want stability; a good life is not precarious. We want to do something with our lives; a good life is not without boldness.

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

The power of regret is that it clarifies what we value and instructs on how to do better. The fact that we have so many of these boldness regrets suggests that when people tell you what they regret they most, they are telling you what they value the most, and what most people value is growth and learning.

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

No regrets culture is a terrible blueprint for living. The idea that you should always be positive and never look backwards is not an effective blueprint for living a decent, meaningful, happy life. It runs against everything we know about the science of emotion! Regret is one of the most common emotions that human beings experience. Everybody has regrets- the only people who don't are babies, sociopaths, and people with brain damage.

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

In our modern world, everyone has an opinion about everything; and it's powerful to step back and go, 'you know what… I genuinely don't have an opinion about that…' – taking that position is seen as most terrible in today's day and age, but if you really work to dismantle all the things you think you are, you'll probably find you don't have an opinion about so many things.

British Radio & TV Presenter, Model & Wellness Author

We've lost our relationship with ourselves; and that is all-encompassing because without a relationship with ourselves, we can't then have a relationship with nature, with each other and the planet. Our rituals and practices often bring us home – they bring us back to what we knew as babies but couldn't clearly articulate.

British Radio & TV Presenter, Model & Wellness Author

I'm not about legacy, I sweat the small stuff and don't think too much about the big picture. I don't have big lofty goals, I just have goals I can execute, and sometimes experiments I run.

Reality TV Star & Founder of Skinnygirl Cocktails Brand

My wish would be that if we discover another civilisation, it will teach us that the differences between us humans are insignificant, and that we should treat each other with respect, as equal members of the same species. When you're not the smartest kid on the block any more, you maybe don't feel so significant.

Harvard astrophysicist who studies interstellar objects and extraterrestrial life

Our experience is very limited to the surface of this rock we call home. You cannot show-off in space, we must be humble. The only purpose for us to seek journeys into space is to learn about the unknown. That's a spiritual conquest. Leaving the solar system has no commercial benefits.

Harvard astrophysicist who studies interstellar objects and extraterrestrial life