Philosophy

One of the greatest myths in the lives of the people I coach is, 'I will be happy when…' as if there is some place to go to. There's only one book that ends with the phrase happily ever after, that's a fairy-tale.

World's Most Cited Executive Coach & Leadership Development Expert

Work is not the be-all and end-all for me. It never has been. My family is the most important thing to me, and I talk a lot about that to my employees. It actually makes you a better employee if you have your balance right between work, family, passions, studies, all those things.

My wife quipped that we're all going to die and it just happened to be her turn. Her pragmatic and humorous attitude was a guide as to how to accept what is unchangeable and inevitable.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Built into her edict, is not to feel any guilt if you find happiness or joy after her death. That is an extraordinarily generous piece of advice.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Four days before she died, she challenged my daughter and I to try and find a pocketful of happiness in each day, which has become the mantra by which we navigate the abyss of grief, following her death. I don't think you ever get over grief, you just have to find a way to accommodate and travel around it.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I began a conversation with my future wife in January 1983 and 38 years later, that conversation ended when she drew her last breath at 7.30 in the evening on the 2nd of September 2021. To be truly and completely seen, understood and loved by another Human Being, was her greatest gift to me.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

If you know something, and if the reason you're confident is that I told you that thing? That means I wasn't a good educator at that moment because you decided that based on some authority figure, something is real, or true. Instead, an educator should teach you how to think about a problem – how to come to some form of understanding.

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

Be ashamed to die unless you have won some victory for humanity. Nobody should make the world worse off for their having lived in it. Everyone has the obligation to add their brick to the edifice of civilisation, and whether that brick is big or small, it means you have contributed to building- not destroying.

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

It has been said that we went to the moon to explore the moon, but while we were there, we looked over our shoulder and discovered Earth. Seeing the Earth in that perspective upgraded the firmware of all our brains, of everyone's subconscious. Those missions sparked Earth Day, the Environmental Protection Agency, a comprehensive Clean Air Act... So much activism came from seeing that there's no hint of anyone coming to help us from somewhere, that we're here by ourselves on one planet.

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

The fact that you and I are alive is against stupendous odds. One day we will die, and that's sad, but there are people who will never die because they were never born. We're the lucky ones, we get to die. You can only die if you were alive.

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

I don't care about legacy – not because I'm not thinking of legacy, but because I'm thinking about how to make the greatest positive difference in the current moment I'm living in, and not obsessing about how I'll be looked back on. You're setting yourself up for misery if you focus too much on legacy honestly, but if you try and make a positive difference in the current moment of your life, you're doing the right thing.

My dad always said you can't win until you don't care. That's how I approached it. My goal was to ski the best I could, as fast as I could, and I didn't care. I would rather crash than come to the finish line knowing I could have done better.

Olympic Alpine Skier with Most World Cup Wins by Female Athlete

We have learned that the things that matter are not the physical, and material things. What matters in life is hope. Tomorrow is not a given, and we must be happy about small things and we must seize the day.

Ukrainian politician and head of Servant of the People party faction

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.

Ukrainian politician and head of Servant of the People party faction

Mill has this thoughtful chapter on freedom of thought, but it is all based on the assumption that you have the ability to think freely inside your mind and that part can't be penetrated. We are very porous now, and it isn't just through neurotechnology, it is through all modes of technology that are designed to interpret and change our cognitive and effective functioning.

Neuroethicist & Duke Law professor specializing in neurorights and genetics policy

The essence of this connection lies in an enduring quest to effect positive change in the world. The judgement criteria revolve around whether the individual endeavored to make the world a better place. This book holds the key to one of the universe's greatest mysteries: the deciding factors for entry into heaven.

Co-Founder of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Agency