Wisdom in fragments

We are the same people, physically: today, we have no additional neurons, no better wiring. But our tools for thinking – our ideas, hypotheses, theories, models – are marvellously improved. The only reason we are better at thinking and doing things now is that we accumulate knowledge and pass ideas and information from one generation to the next.

If you go to any rave, or any football event, you will find people chanting in a rhythm- human beings do that. We have this sense to participate and organise- Music lets you rediscover your humanity, and your connection to humanity. When you listen to Mozart with other people, you feel that somehow- we're all in this together.

Acclaimed film composer known for scores like The Lion King and Inception

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.

Renowned poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist; author of "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Physicist who developed the theory of relativity and E=mc².

Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes...

Leader of Catholic Church for 27 years; advocated for human rights and peace

The sleep revolution is finally hitting the workplace. The business world is waking up to the high cost of sleep deprivation on productivity, health care, and ultimately the bottom line. I expect the nap room to soon become as universal as the conference room.

Co-Founder of The Huffington Post & Wellness Advocate

Sleep became not just devalued but actively scorned. After all, every hour spent sleeping was another hour spent not working—therefore another wasted hour.

Co-Founder of The Huffington Post & Wellness Advocate

When we're not well rested, we're not as healthy. Lack of sleep is often the culprit behind anxiety, stress, depression, and a myriad of health problems.

Co-Founder of The Huffington Post & Wellness Advocate

This crisis is rooted in the collective delusion that burnout is the necessary price we must pay for accomplishment and success. Recent scientific findings make it clear that this couldn't be less true. Performance is actually improved when our lives include time for renewal.

Co-Founder of The Huffington Post & Wellness Advocate

Cancer cells grow faster, adapt better. They are more perfect versions of ourselves.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and physician specializing in cancer biology

If we, as a species, are the ultimate product of Darwinian selection, then so, too, is this incredible disease that lurks inside us.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and physician specializing in cancer biology

To confront cancer is to encounter a parallel species, one perhaps more adapted to survival than we are. This image- of cancer as our desperate, malevolent, contemporary doppelganger- is so haunting because it is at least partly true.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and physician specializing in cancer biology

Cancer, we now know, is a disease caused by the uncontrolled growth of a single cell. This growth is unleashed by mutations- changes in DNA that specifically affect genes that incite unlimited cell growth. In a normal cell, powerful genetic circuits regulate cell division and cell death. In a cancer cell, these circuits have been broken, unleashing a cell that cannot stop growing.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and physician specializing in cancer biology

One you have to get a unique insight. It starts there. Two, you need to be prepared to devote a lot of energy and commitment.

Former CEO of Microsoft & Owner of Los Angeles Clippers

Small companies will get an idea and try to scale up. Big companies have to decide when to extend, when to extend and scale, and when to do something new. They need to build capabilities in terms of insight and execution to do the new thing.

Former CEO of Microsoft & Owner of Los Angeles Clippers

The most important thing a leader has to have is an idea on where they want to go and the ability to bring people with them. Most discussion about leadership is about styles and characteristics, but the most important thing is having a clear sense — and a right sense — of where you want to go.

Former CEO of Microsoft & Owner of Los Angeles Clippers