“Nuclear weapons continue to be built for basically two reasons: power and prestige. In almost every case where a country has decided to acquire a nuclear weapon they have done it either for power—the power to protect their country from external threats or a desire to project their power in the region.”

— 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.

GDP and GNP shouldn't be scrapped, they're of value, but they don't even give us an indication of economic well-being let alone individual well-being

— Richard A. Easterlin

Economist known for the Easterlin Paradox on income and happiness

Kuznets (who developed the measure) was highly skeptical about the assertion that all government spending contributed to people's economic well-being. He wanted the measure of output to be more relevant to people's well-being and he lost-out on this argument to the UN and partner economies of the USA.

— Richard A. Easterlin

Economist known for the Easterlin Paradox on income and happiness

He developed national income measures which were then taken-up by the UN and governments as the accepted measure of economic performance. The standardisation of this measure by the UK was ultimately what engendered it's adoption as the criteria of economic success.

— Richard A. Easterlin

Economist known for the Easterlin Paradox on income and happiness

They talk about Steve Jobs having a reality distortion field…. but all the entrepreneurs I met who achieved great things had that. They all had a wilful denial of reality… against all evidence to the contrary they had to believe they would succeed.. that's ultimately what entrepreneurs do.

— Doug Menuez

From the guys who started Adobe to Steve Jobs, and everyone in between…. for the people I documented, money was secondary… They knew absolutely they would make money, but changing the world and doing cool stuff was the primary goal; that was their mission.

— Doug Menuez

Steve Jobs forced me to figure out what was important to me, and who I was. He demanded that everybody in the room had to be at the top of their game, the best in their field… He was challenging people every day to do their best work and rise above their own talents. He hired the most brilliant people and pushed them to go further.

— Doug Menuez

Genius is (possibly) the presence of more- or more closely packed- neurons. I once held a chunk of Einstein's brain, the scientist who was dissecting and analysing it told me the neurons were closer together. We don't really know if that makes thinking faster… but when I sit with true brilliant people and watch them have conversations, they seem to have the ability to recall important bits of information, put the puzzles together, and see patterns faster.

— Doug Menuez

I was an accidental witness to history, it wasn't technology that intrigued me; but rather the question about who these human beings were… who was this hidden tribe that had the power to change our lives?

— Doug Menuez

Don't make the mistake of confusing net worth and self-worth.

— Dr. Michael Freeman

On one hand, competitive high-pressure jobs lead executives into many situations that can induce worry and fear (anxiety), hopelessness and despair (depression), and urgency (stress). On the other hand, some people are drawn to high pressure jobs by their adventurous personalities, their ability to tolerate risk, and their motivation for achievement.

— Dr. Michael Freeman

Management that is forced into near time results and paybacks is not tuned for the sort of messages that design has to offer––those of long term customer relationships, of innovative approaches to creating desirable uniqueness.

— Chris Bangle