There's a very strong relationship between depravation and drug use in many western cultures. It's not the sole reason- you do get the rich and mega-privileged using drugs… You can't go shouting from the rooftops that it's all about depravation… a lot of it is… but there are other social factors, personal factors, genetic factors and economic factors – all mixed into the pot.

We are made up not of atoms, but of stories.

This vulnerability we have is like a crack in the human psyche, a gateway through which madness seeps in. The human brain isn't primarily focused on discerning truth. Instead, it's preoccupied with understanding who to align with and what beliefs to adopt to secure connection and status within a given culture.

The way I prefer to think of perception is as a processor of active construction, a controlled hallucination. Everything we perceive is a kind of inference, a burst guess about what's out there.

This is a sector that I have, in my book, projected to reach a net worth of $16 billion by 2022. Yet, in updating my figures for the book release, I found that the 2023 statistics have already surpassed that estimate, pegging the industry at an astounding $20 billion. The sheer size and influence of this industry are undeniably vast and potent.

Machines are pushing people to new frontiers, and teach us that complacency and the status-quo are not working.

I spent 20 years in executive search, and I was hired by my clients to call 'the most successful people' in the world. Bold face names in bold face organisations. However it wasn't that hard, because despite all the success, which is why I was calling them, they were not very happy which is why they were calling me back.

Mixed martial arts aren't like boxing. In boxing, if you lose on your way up? It's pretty much career over. In mixed martial arts, there are so many ways to win and lose... When that happens, you say, 'OK, what did I do wrong?' – you have to be honest with yourself.

Entrepreneurs that do it for greed of money fail. Entrepreneurship isn't about greed, it has nothing to do with that; what matters is personal freedom.

The ability for hedge funds and other private investment product to advertise is certainly a big deal that will have lasting impact on the manner which these products are distributed and marketed.

A designer is a designer, whether you're designing a dress or a toothbrush. The integrity, skill and creativity are all the same.

But when it comes to claims like 'pets alleviate depression,' there's really no solid evidence. In fact, the findings so far are pretty ambiguous. And in one study that found no significant overall effect, cat owners were actually more depressed than the control group.