True grit is that rare strength and resilience to dust yourself off, look at what went wrong, refine your proposition and plough on. Always be prepared to adapt: an open mind is everything – but stay focused on your end game.
— Kanya King“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
The quote archive
Wisdom in fragments
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
We all have obstacles we think can't be overcome, but if our dream is great enough, and we work hard enough, the world is ours for the taking.
— Kanya KingEntrepreneurship is about taking risks and having the audacity to commit and persevere through all the obstacles and hurdles we have to overcome.
— Kanya KingFreedom without struggle is an illusion. I love problems. How we deal with problems defines who we are and what values we stand for.
— Ai WeiweiChinese Artist & Dissident; Prominent Human Rights Activist and Political Critic
Art is necessary for the human mind. Art is about our dreams, fears, and imagination. Art is about everything outside of the system. It is a death sentence for art when it is within the system.
— Ai WeiweiChinese Artist & Dissident; Prominent Human Rights Activist and Political Critic
Power is seized with the gun and maintained with the pen. Controlling public opinion through propaganda and misinformation is the most critical task of an authoritarian power.
— Ai WeiweiChinese Artist & Dissident; Prominent Human Rights Activist and Political Critic
The strongest characteristic of art is that it belongs to the individual. Art is an expression of individualism and the opposite of oppressive dogma.
— Ai WeiweiChinese Artist & Dissident; Prominent Human Rights Activist and Political Critic
What binds exceptional creators together is their relentless effort. Regardless of the challenges or roadblocks along the way, these people persist and find ways to overcome obstacles.
— Miguel McKelveyCo-founder of WeWork, co-working space company
What we're seeing is a global shift towards meaning and WeWork is helping achieve that on a global scale.
— Miguel McKelveyCo-founder of WeWork, co-working space company
Our mission is to help people create a life, not just a living. By freeing them from thinking about the tasks related to space, they can dedicate more of their time and energy on their work and passions.
— Miguel McKelveyCo-founder of WeWork, co-working space company
Success is different for everyone, but for me success has always been about finding meaning and personal fulfillment. If I can wake up every day, feel engaged in my work and know that I tried my best to help others feel the same as me, then I feel successful.
— Miguel McKelveyCo-founder of WeWork, co-working space company
At WeWork, we believe creators are anyone that's pursuing their passions and contributing to a mission. Regardless of your company size, title or function, you are working towards creating meaning, intention and purpose within your life.
— Miguel McKelveyCo-founder of WeWork, co-working space company
We have to shift the focus of our discussions on Europe to trying to deal with the citizens' concerns. And I mean simple things, like 'I can't buy an iTunes record for someone living in a different country because of the geolocation requirements and copyright'.
— Toomas Hendrik IlvesFormer President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer
I personally want to throw up every time I hear some completely senseless and baseless statement like 'we need more of Europe, not less'. It means nothing, and those slogans simply drive people crazy – It goes to show the intellectual vacuousness of the people who say them.
— Toomas Hendrik IlvesFormer President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer
Without the existence of Europe, smaller countries like mine [Estonia] would have a difficult time to survive economically or even from a defence perspective. The internal European market is absolutely vital for the functioning of the very different economies of the continent.
— Toomas Hendrik IlvesFormer President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer
In my case, and for many people I know, a European identity is something that was denied to us for 50 years. For 50 years, Estonia was occupied by the Soviets, and so- for us- for our people, who were under communist domination, we were comfortable and happy to take on a European identity when we gained independence.
— Toomas Hendrik IlvesFormer President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer