“Comedy delivers the cerebral and the hyperbole, it can be funny and serious. You can see that ability for the pendulum to swing both ways when you watch the best comedians perform.”
— Hasan Minhaj
Comedian and former Daily Show correspondent known for Netflix special "Patriot Act

The quote archive

Justice

A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.

There were large segments of the population with tremendous talent, who were being overlooked and underestimated because they didn't have the right 'pedigree.' – These individuals had fabulous business ideas and were genuinely going to change the world as they were solving real problems.

— Mitch Kapor

Founder of Lotus Software & Digital Rights Pioneer

Most of the venture backed businesses, and venture capital firms, are a mirror-tocracy not a meritocracy! Senior executives are disproportionately drawn from a narrow stratum of society – in the US, this means Ivy-League Schools such as Stanford. They tend to be overwhelmingly white (and increasingly now Asian) but certainly overwhelmingly male.

— Mitch Kapor

Founder of Lotus Software & Digital Rights Pioneer

If power is bestowed on someone, there's always the risk of exploitation. It's our collective responsibility as a society to establish boundaries and guidelines. We must push for government regulation.

— Stephanie McNeal

Firstly, pay has to be high enough to give people agency in their own lives and secondly, humans have to be treated like humans. Those are the minimum conditions for good jobs – there also needs to be a career path that enables people to learn and grow in their jobs.

— Zeynep Ton

MIT Professor & Author on Retail Operations & Low-Wage Work

Open-source evidence is essentially public information available to anyone and can be traced back to its original source. We've always maintained transparency in our methodologies and the step-by-step processes we employ.

— Eliot Higgins

Founder of Bellingcat, open-source investigation journalism network

Upon experiencing my first miscarriage, I was incredulously told I'd need to endure three consecutive miscarriages before further action would be taken. The idea itself was staggering to me. You wouldn't ask someone to undergo multiple heart attacks or even endure recurrent minor injuries like broken fingers before intervening. Yet, the system requires women to face the trauma of three successive miscarriages.

— Myleene Klass

British TV presenter, singer, and classical musician from Pop Idol

Consider a car with malfunctioning brakes; it's unsafe to let it on the street, as it could cause harm. You'd need to confine it, but you wouldn't punish it or moralize its malfunction. Instead, you'd seek to understand why its brakes failed.

— Robert Sapolsky

Neuroscientist & primatologist known for stress research and public engagement

We must start by eliminating a culture that falsely implies the existence of agency where there is none and condones differential treatment of individuals based on a misguided notion of self-control.

— Robert Sapolsky

Neuroscientist & primatologist known for stress research and public engagement

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.

— Sir Geoffrey Nice KC

Prosecutor of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal

Response to, and resolution of what lay behind the merciless attack, should theoretically still be for peaceful resolution in accordance with the UN Charter.

— Sir Geoffrey Nice KC

Prosecutor of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal

A concept that has become prominent in recent discussions addressed to newspaper readers, media viewers, and radio listeners in the past seven weeks is 'proportionality'. This concept, while vital to have in mind in considering the lawfulness or otherwise of use of force in almost all armed conflicts, lacks a precise definition.

— Sir Geoffrey Nice KC

Prosecutor of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal

The cumulative impact of these legal instruments indicates, perhaps unsurprisingly, that initiating war is rarely, if ever, lawful. However, responding to acts of war can be justified.

— Sir Geoffrey Nice KC

Prosecutor of Slobodan Milošević at the International Criminal Tribunal

From my perspective, however, justice alone is insufficient for reconciliation. True reconciliation must originate within a society, involving both victims and perpetrators. Yet, accountability is an essential starting point, laying the groundwork for reconciliation efforts.

— Dr. Serge Brammertz

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

Historically, conflicts typically ended with the major players negotiating peace agreements, often including amnesties. The more brutal and involved in crimes a party was, the more significant their role at the negotiation table. This approach changed after the Second World War with the Nuremberg trials.

— Dr. Serge Brammertz

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

As a prosecutor, I recognize that our involvement typically begins when it's already too late: when prevention, humanity, and common sense have failed. Violence, whether in families, communities, or at an international level, signifies a failure of humanity.

— Dr. Serge Brammertz

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

I firmly believe that a society cannot heal from the wounds of war without accountability for serious international crimes. How can a society move towards a shared future while fundamental disagreements about the past and about responsibility for past crimes persist?

— Dr. Serge Brammertz

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda