“We have engineered a world where going into leadership or public office creates huge worry. That's a problem as it means that the people who go forward for these roles are those for whom power is the reward, not doing the work.”
— Brian Klaas
Political scientist & author specializing in authoritarianism and democracy

The quote archive

Wisdom in fragments

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

It's taken for me to get into my 30s to realise I am more than the media told me I was- I have more to say, so do my friends. We are intelligent, we are strong, we are multi-faceted, we are vulgar and we are funny.

— Jameela Jamil

Actress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place

There's a deliberate strategy and direct correlation between how much we're being attacked regarding our looks, and how much the beauty industry and cosmetic surgery industry are booking. These are companies growing into the tens of billions in revenue across countries and continents.

— Jameela Jamil

Actress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place

I've described celebrities as being 'double agents of the patriarchy,' and whilst things are getting better- and language is changing, we are still not always calling out those who fat shame or age shame women.

— Jameela Jamil

Actress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place

To fight back, you have to first identify the enemy and right now, the enemies are corporations and the culture of consumerism. Brands work on the principle that if you break down people's confidence, they will be much more vulnerable to advertising, and much more likely to go out and consume.

— Jameela Jamil

Actress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place

It's disappointing to see the amount of people who choose to profit from the pain and self-consciousness of teenage girls without even thinking about it. If you are motivated to constantly talk about your image, your weight and to guide people through ridiculously unhealthy juice fasts- then you are already poison; you've drunk the kool-aid.

— Jameela Jamil

Actress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place

I'm a school drop-out that is now teaching professors and doctors around the world; all because of a naïve woman's wish for her child to live.

— Wim Hof

Extreme athlete known for ice exposure & breathing technique methods

Tapping into these forgotten parts of the brain can be transformational for bipolar, for anxiety, fear, depression, PTSD and trauma. This is the part of the brain that is normally stimulated by opioids and cannabinoids; but imagine being able to consciously activate this part of your brain- to create euphoria whenever you need.

— Wim Hof

Extreme athlete known for ice exposure & breathing technique methods

By consciously and regularly going into the cold- I've learned how to tap into this primordial part of the brain; an area we've lost access to because of our destimulative behaviour. We need to get out into the cold, into the heat, and allow our brain to reconnect to these lost areas.

— Wim Hof

Extreme athlete known for ice exposure & breathing technique methods

Within each of us is a deep, complex network of capillaries, veins and arteries which extend a distance equivalent to more than 3 times the circumference of the Earth, and because our body has lost its conditioning to nature, our hearts have to pump 20-30 times a minute more than if we regularly exposed our body to cold water.

— Wim Hof

Extreme athlete known for ice exposure & breathing technique methods

We come from mammals, we are mammals… we're just mammals that wear clothes. We're destimulated – we don't feel the cold, the heat, everything in our environment – even though our physiology is built for it. We've allowed them to lose this fitness, to lose their conditioning – and so our hearts compensate.

— Wim Hof

Extreme athlete known for ice exposure & breathing technique methods

Nobody knows how far we can go as humans and so I listened only to myself and my body and pushed it to go beyond perceived limitations, and guess what – outside that boundary is a whole new life where you really start to live.

— David Goggins

Ultramarathon Runner, Navy SEAL, & Motivational Speaker

I don't see things as impossible; I got right to the equations to figure out how this could be achieved; I didn't put a barrier on my mind or body. A practitioner is the person who goes out and breaks the limits of the mind, the soul, the body.

— David Goggins

Ultramarathon Runner, Navy SEAL, & Motivational Speaker

To overcome extreme obstacles, to do the impossible, you have to create another human being inside yourself. I had to create an image of how I wanted to look, how I wanted to act, how I wanted to believe, how hard I wanted to push. I trained that image in my mind, and then I had to become an artist to create it.

— David Goggins

Ultramarathon Runner, Navy SEAL, & Motivational Speaker

You have to go into a very quiet place in your mind, away from the noise of the world, the noise of doubters, insecurities and your own self. You have to quiet your disbelief and create open mindedness to your own ability to succeed and overcome.

— David Goggins

Ultramarathon Runner, Navy SEAL, & Motivational Speaker

Very few people know how the bottom feels, but I do. It's like quicksand. It grabs you, sucks you under and won't let go. When life is like that it's easy to drift and continue to make the same comfortable choices that are killing you, over and over again.

— David Goggins

Ultramarathon Runner, Navy SEAL, & Motivational Speaker

In reality, you're rarely (if ever) completely helpless, you allow yourself to be helpless. You need to take ownership of a situation, break it down into bitesize chunks and plan accordingly.

— Chris Hadfield

Canadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander