“Paying a negative interest rate on currency, or on electronic reserves at the central bank, may seem barbaric to some... But it is arguably no more barbaric than inflation, which similarly reduces the real purchasing power of currency.”
— Kenneth Rogoff
Economist & Harvard Professor; Former IMF Chief Economist

The quote archive

Wisdom in fragments

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

It shocks me that our society has not caught up with the fact that mental illnesses should be treated like any other disease, and not relegated to the justice system. We have so many different therapies and medicines, and people can make significant recoveries.

— Chirlane McCray

Wife of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio; Mental Health Advocate & Poet

Art, for him, is a crucial means for turning thinking into doing in the world.

— Olafur Eliasson

Icelandic-Danish artist known for immersive light and weather installations

an object must be useful before being beautiful.

— Philippe Starck

Renowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design

No one has to be a genius, but everyone has to participate.

— Philippe Starck

Renowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design

Subversive, ethical, ecological, political, humorous… this is how I see my duty as a designer.

— Philippe Starck

Renowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design

If the disabled workforce was utilised to its full potential, that's an extra £40 billion that could be added to the economy.

— June Sarpong

British TV Presenter, Diversity Advocate & Commonwealth Games Federation Official

Of the 1.4 million people in this country who have learning difficulties, only 6% are in work. That's insane! There are over a million people with disabilities looking for work, who can't find work because they're discriminated against.

— June Sarpong

British TV Presenter, Diversity Advocate & Commonwealth Games Federation Official

We need to change our hearts and minds, not just our behaviours. Forget even the moral argument, discriminating is such a waste. It is from our diverse cultures and communities that we could find the cure for cancer, where we could find all of the solutions for some of our most pressing problems.

— June Sarpong

British TV Presenter, Diversity Advocate & Commonwealth Games Federation Official

We've never really talked about diversity, not honestly- and that's why we've got these problems, we've always skirted around the issue, sort of tap danced around it and walked on egg shells when discussing it; because of this, we've never really addressed it.

— June Sarpong

British TV Presenter, Diversity Advocate & Commonwealth Games Federation Official

Rather than politicising our cultural challenges, we have to allow people to feel comfortable about their culture and about who they are, and to accept each other as equals.

— Edwin M. Lee

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

If you're going to be a city of love and compassion, you're going to have to develop economics infrastructure, capital planning and job creation policies, complementing them with education.

— Edwin M. Lee

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

We believe people don't have to fear the innovation age as being victims of it. They can actually embrace it by saying 'okay, I've got to have some additional skill sets I can go back to'.

— Edwin M. Lee

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

People who are building don't want to simply test their ideas in a microcosm, they want to be successful in the real-world, and San Francisco is an international city with real world connections.

— Edwin M. Lee

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

San Francisco is the city of love and compassion, will always be, and will never change that.

— Edwin M. Lee

Mayor of San Francisco (2011-2018) & First Asian-American Mayor

Even if we end up with better regulations, we'll still have 300 million guns washing around the US, and that's going to be a huge problem for decades, because guns last a long time.

— Nicholas Kristof

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist & New York Times Columnist

There are two key advantages of thinking of guns as a public health issue. First of all, it removes some of the emotion from the issue. Secondly it moves the debate to be about evidence; where we can empirically show what works, at what cost.

— Nicholas Kristof

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist & New York Times Columnist