“A regional war in say, South Asia, which involved as few as one hundred nuclear bombs would result in firestorms in their urban centres that would put so much smoke and particulate into the atmosphere that the earth would be covered in a cloud that would reflect sunlight back into space and reduce global temperatures but two to three degrees for several years. This would kill most food crops on the planet, resulting in massive famines and starvation.”

— Joseph Cirincione

Nuclear weapons expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund.

The quote archive

Wisdom in fragments

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

Think about anything you've ever achieved in your life that you're proud of... starting a business... being a good parent... learning to play the guitar.... It will have taken a huge amount of sustained focus and attention.

— Johann Hari

Journalist and author known for books on addiction and depression

Your attention hasn't collapsed, it's been stolen from you by big forces. Once we understand those forces, we can begin to build meaningful solutions.

— Johann Hari

Journalist and author known for books on addiction and depression

The power of regret is that it clarifies what we value and instructs on how to do better. When people tell you what they regret they most, they are telling you what they value the most.

— Daniel H. Pink

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

We should be looking at our regrets not as meaningless, debilitating phenomena but as signals, information, and data. If we do that systematically? We can use this emotion as a transformative force for progress.

— Daniel H. Pink

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

People who are claiming they have no regrets are essentially saying they have no learning, no growth, and no progress. We need to recalibrate and make sense of this profoundly misunderstood emotion.

— Daniel H. Pink

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

Everybody has regrets- the only people who don't are babies, sociopaths, and people with brain damage. You might wonder why an emotion that's objectively so unpleasant is also so ubiquitous? Well… it's because it's useful (if we treat it right).

— Daniel H. Pink

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

No regrets culture is a terrible blueprint for living. The idea that you should always be positive and never look backwards is not an effective blueprint for living a decent, meaningful, happy life. It runs against everything we know about the science of emotion!

— Daniel H. Pink

Author of "Drive" & Leading Work Culture Expert

We all know – almost intuitively – that we're part of something that requires awe and wonder. It's so amazing we're here, it's bonkers! There is so much inspiration around us – it's awe inspiring.

— Fearne Cotton