Wisdom in fragments

We have to live in the world as it is, not the world as we wish it would be, is something that we misunderstand. If we are realistic those ideals are usually out of reach, and in fact thinking about them and dreaming about them is a way to punish ourselves for the fact our lives are never going to match up to those ideals.

Harvard philosophy professor specializing in ethics and meaning

We believe that flexibility should exist, and that benefits earned should be portable and proportional to the amount of work you're doing on each platform. It's a tremendous opportunity for the global work-system.

We're creating a different type of work. The average Dasher dashes for about four hours a week, and very often they're trying to save-up for something and use it as a supplement to their income.

Nobody will fund innovation in perpetuity – you need to make money; you need to deliver value to your customers. When people ask me whether we want growth or profit, I say yes! Both!

Entrepreneurial businesses innovate, change, evolve and meet customer needs… it's about creating things that people value and love.

It's tougher being a leader now, in 2022, than it was in 1982 when I joined the Foreign Office. Leaders are examined much more closely, and constantly, now than they were in the past.

Power is the ability to get things done, to have your way and to make people do things they perhaps didn't want to do – such as pay taxes or go to war.

There is no such thing as one-sided victory in diplomacy, perhaps in war there is, but not in diplomacy. You are always, or at least should always be, mindful of the other side.

The clearest thing about being a diplomat is the knowledge that you aren't in control. The problems you're dealing with are huge – with multiple players and facets. Nobody involved in diplomacy can kid themselves that they are in charge, or in control.

Built into her edict, is not to feel any guilt if you find happiness or joy after her death. That is an extraordinarily generous piece of advice.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Despite every adversity, never give up on your dreams. I am living proof that having been born and brought up in the smallest country in the Southern Hemisphere, it is possible to fulfil your ambition and succeed despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

My wife quipped that we're all going to die and it just happened to be her turn. Her pragmatic and humorous attitude was a guide as to how to accept what is unchangeable and inevitable.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Four days before she died, she challenged my daughter and I to try and find a pocketful of happiness in each day, which has become the mantra by which we navigate the abyss of grief, following her death. I don't think you ever get over grief, you just have to find a way to accommodate and travel around it.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I began a conversation with my future wife in January 1983 and 38 years later, that conversation ended when she drew her last breath at 7.30 in the evening on the 2nd of September 2021. To be truly and completely seen, understood and loved by another Human Being, was her greatest gift to me.

British actor known for Withnail and I and Star Wars: The Force Awakens

That's the future of medicine… being able to see a doctor before something happens, not after… seeing a doctor when you need to, not on some random annual check-up day once a year. Data can create a real story for how the body is evolving and what's happening right at this very moment.

Working with the world's best athletes forced us to build the most accurate technology, and not to cut any accuracy or performance corners. Pro athletes helped to remove the stigma around health monitoring and make it something aspirational instead.