Wisdom in fragments

Power is not the sense we think of in politics, or great leaders doing dastardly things for political advantage. I think of power at an individual level- people want a degree of control over their lives. You want to shake-off the deeply unsettling feeling that you cannot influence your children, spouse, colleagues, and boss.

Author of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist

Winning is satisfaction. When you are working hard with your team, when you are working day and night, fighting hard, doing the best you can… when you make sacrifices and see things start to grow. That feeling of satisfaction is more important sometimes than money.

Founder and Chairman of Diesel fashion brand and Only The Brave Group

That is my courage – I see things thanks to young people around me, and go forward fast, implementing before others do.

Founder and Chairman of Diesel fashion brand and Only The Brave Group

My father taught me an important lesson; when you get something, when you receive something, it's important to give back. This lesson is something that has really stuck with me through my whole life, and I've always tried to do social good as much as I can.

Founder and Chairman of Diesel fashion brand and Only The Brave Group

Making mistakes is necessary- if you don't make mistakes, you can never grow. Every failure is a little lesson in how to be a winner. Failure is an opportunity to learn, to start again, to see problems, and find solutions. Failing may be the reason you win next time!

Founder and Chairman of Diesel fashion brand and Only The Brave Group

I'm just a person who loves to do things before others. I'm very open to listening to young people, and always have a good relationship with them. I'm curious. Thanks to this, I try to do things before they become huge – I feel the market, the world, and try to be more-close to the world today.

Founder and Chairman of Diesel fashion brand and Only The Brave Group

You are all so smart… and this was so bad… how could your discipline have not seen it coming? Implicit in the Queen's question was the assertion that economists don't get out enough and talk to people in the wider economy.

Dean of Columbia Business School & Economic Policy Advisor

There is a problem with business leaders and the economics profession where we have celebrated the gains from neoliberal policies whilst only paying lip-service to compensating those left-behind.

Dean of Columbia Business School & Economic Policy Advisor

We've had a collective gap of imagination around economic bridges. We know how to build bridges; we just don't build them.

Dean of Columbia Business School & Economic Policy Advisor

If you eliminate dynamism, you don't have growth for anybody, everyone loses. Rather than just having some people who are disadvantaged, everyone becomes disadvantaged.

Dean of Columbia Business School & Economic Policy Advisor

There's some psychological evidence which shows that people who have experienced very little suffering in their lives often have very low tolerance for difficulty and strangely enough, lower kindness.

Psychologist specializing in moral development and human nature research

A lot of people think we're pleasure motivated hedonists, but it turns out we have many other goals. We want happiness, but that comes in many different forms. We want pleasure, we want to be good people, we want to make a difference in the world.

Psychologist specializing in moral development and human nature research

We're the mammal that likes Tabasco sauce! We're the only creature (as far as we know) that seeks out suffering and pain willingly. We do so not just through liberal splashes of Tabasco on our food, but also through seeking meaning through activities.

Psychologist specializing in moral development and human nature research

Chosen suffering is part and parcel of a meaningful life. If you don't have any chosen suffering in your life, you're probably not living the best life you could.

Psychologist specializing in moral development and human nature research

If you tell me a pursuit that you view as meaningful and important, I can guarantee it won't be easy. If it was easy, it wouldn't be meaningful or important. We reserve the notion of meaning for things that have difficulty.

Psychologist specializing in moral development and human nature research

Politics is not about management – it's about creating a narrative that can inspire and can bring people along in a certain direction.