“Had I not defended it and stood by it, I think it could have disappeared into history- but because I protected it, stood up for it, believed in it and understood why it existed and what it had done? That's why it still remains.”— Tracey Emin
The quote archive
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
What makes any sport exciting is learning how to excel by staying within the confine of rules, not by winning through ignoring them. The team isn't just the one with your jersey, it's everyone who wears a jersey.
— Kareem Abdul-JabbarNBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion
The team was a meritocracy in which performance alone was rewarded. As I got better and my team started winning championships for my school, my status as freakishly tall black kid became a badge of accomplishment and inclusion.
— Kareem Abdul-JabbarNBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion
On the court, there was no prejudice, just your contribution to the team. Off the court, teamwork seemed like a parody of what we did. So, the lesson I eventually learned was to distinguish between which teams are sincere in promoting true teamwork, and which are jingoistic self-serving pretenders.
— Kareem Abdul-JabbarNBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion
Coach Wooden's little lesson wasn't just about socks, but about how everything in life was basically a Rube Goldberg contraption with many seemingly unrelated parts that form a greater interrelated machine. Neglecting what appears insignificant can create a domino effect of failure.
— Kareem Abdul-JabbarNBA's All-Time Leading Scorer & Six-Time Champion
Forgetfulness of the past and the consequences such forgetfulness potentially produces. Extreme nationalism prevents nations from cooperating with other nations.
— Walter ZifferAs I see it, education that strengthens our inclination toward the good is the means toward creating decent behavior in humans. Such education should be of the formal kind and through role modeling and osmosis.
— Walter ZifferWhen pushed to extremes by exterior influences, real or perceived as real, the inclination toward evil can overwhelm our psychic system and push us toward extreme cruelty toward others and even toward the self.
— Walter ZifferI cannot help but admire the insight of our Jewish sages of old who taught that every child is born with equal affinities toward goodness and evil, in Hebrew yetzer hatov and yetzer hara. This means that we are not born as a tabula rasa.
— Walter ZifferIn my opinion, the seeds of cruelty are in nature. We are animals and so we participate in animal behavior. Aggression is part of the natural world and we derive our origins from the natural world in which there are priorities that drive existence such as the need to eat, to reproduce and to defend.
— Walter ZifferI am not a big fan of the word hope, I am a big fan of the word determination. Being determined is a moral position, when you are depend on the word hope you are lazy.
— Ece TemelkuranTurkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy
It's hard for people to defend democracy when it cannot defend them against social injustice.
— Ece TemelkuranTurkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy
If you say 'I hate politics!' you are removing yourself from the public sphere, and are rejecting the ability to be a political subject. You are submitting yourself to a higher order, a powerful ruler.
— Ece TemelkuranTurkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy
Once the cancer of authoritarianism gets into the veins and organs of society, it's not easy to get-out – they have this very specific way of paralysing political mechanisms and dismantling the fundamental human logic.
— Ece TemelkuranTurkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy
Populism is the act of politicising and mobilising ignorance to the point of political and moral insanity.
— Ece TemelkuranTurkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy
We're extraordinarily vulnerable to the functions of our heart, no other organ can cause sudden death.
— Sandeep JauharCardiologist and author of "Intern" and "Heart: A History
The heart is a fascinating machine. It beats 3 billion times in a typical human lifetime, consumes so much energy, and does so much work that if you attached a heart to a typical swimming pool – the heart would empty the pool in about a week.
— Sandeep JauharCardiologist and author of "Intern" and "Heart: A History