Wisdom in fragments

One of the most important pieces of advice I could give you is to keep the conversation casual, inquisitive and authentic. Casual means keep it light, don't try and get too deep or specific! Inquisitive means don't keep talking about you! Ask people about themselves, their lives, their career, get to know them! Authentic means be real, don't try and force a networking persona on yourself, just be relaxed and be your natural self.

One of the challenges in networking is everybody thinks it's making cold calls to strangers. Actually, it's the people who already have strong trust relationships with you, who know you're dedicated, smart, a team player, who can help you.

Co-Founder of LinkedIn & Venture Capitalist

People have regarded as a paradox- the fact that Newton spent most of his time doing alchemy, which doesn't sound very scientific, and only part of his time doing mechanics and gravitation. Of course, his discoveries in mechanics and his law of gravitation were absolutely foundational to all of quantitative science, engineering, technology and, indeed, everything that came after

Theoretical Physicist & Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Putting a price on the good things in life can corrupt them. That's because markets don't only allocate goods; they also express and promote certain attitudes toward the goods being exchanged.

Harvard philosopher known for justice and moral philosophy courses

What we give to alleviate the need, suffering and sorrow of others, whether we know them or not, is charity. What we give to prevent and correct social and environmental problems and improve life and living conditions of people and creatures we don't know and who have no claim on us is philanthropy.

Morality represents the way we would like the world to work, and economics represents how it actually does work.

Economist known for applying economic analysis to unconventional topics via Freakonomics

In a society where everything is for sale, life is harder for those of modest means. The more money can buy, the more affluence (or the lack of it) matters.

Harvard philosopher known for justice and moral philosophy courses

As the great baseball star Earl Weaver once said, 'Nobody likes to hear it, because it's dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same – pitching.'

The most successful teams are the ones who present with authenticity and passion. You could have the next cancer cure, but unless your audience believes in you, they won't invest in you.

You are NOT a machine: There's a reason that presentations are often called 'death by PowerPoint,' and many of the most masterful presentations don't even need slides… More than anything, you need to realise that first and foremost, you're a storyteller – and in any pitch, you have to engage the emotions and interest of your audience.

When I've asked them about what drew them into a particular investment, the answer is unanimous – the people. When I reflect back on business I've invested in, and the hundreds of investor pitches I've seen?… the answer is the same – and often I've invested in the 'weaker' idea because of the people, and dismissed the 'better' idea for the same reason.

No one man can, for any considerable time, wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one.

American novelist and short story writer; author of *The Scarlet Letter*

I made a principled decision that none of my wealth will be passed on as inheritance, that my capital will work for philanthropic causes. In other words, philanthropy is the reason I make money.

Russian Oligarch & Owner of Norilsk Nickel Mining Company

there are no good musicians who do not have a good ear, no artists without a great imagination, no writers without an excellent command of the language. The same goes for our trade. It is not enough to know how to use a calculator or build sound financial models. You need to have vision. You should look at a business process as if it were a living thing; you need to sense its music.

Russian Oligarch & Owner of Norilsk Nickel Mining Company

We are talking about three million people who, in effect, are the property of another person and in many cases could be killed, by their owner, with immunity.

More girls have been killed in the past fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the battles of the twentieth century. More girls are killed in this routine 'gendercide' in any one decade, than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the twentieth century.