I don't think there is anything about putting your country first that requires you to turn your back on the rest of the world. If anything, the opposite is true.
— Melinda GatesCo-Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Advocate
“Those defending the inevitability of death vastly outnumber the proponents of indefinite life. This almost trance-like acceptance of the status quo is genuinely surprising to me.”— Bryan Johnson
Biohacker & Blueprint Project Founder focused on extreme longevity optimization
The quote archive
Philosophy
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
We can't solve problems if we don't understand them.
— Melinda GatesCo-Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Advocate
Many of us think that you should only believe things that are true, not just things that rally your coalition, sect, or tribe. That belief is by no means universal, but it is a gift of the enlightenment.
— Steven PinkerCognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature
The laws of cause and effect which govern our universe don't care about our beliefs – so we'd better find out what those laws are and try and align our beliefs to them to eliminate guesswork. The consequences if we don't? we'll get sick, we'll starve, our machines will break down.
— Steven PinkerCognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature
Truth is an aspiration which none of us can ever know that we have attained. Nobody has a pipeline to the truth; nobody is imbued with divine revelation. We seek truth through institutions like science, journalism, governance, justice systems and record keeping. These are the bodies that make us collectively more suited to attain the truth.
— Steven PinkerCognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature
Rationality applies whether you believe in it or not. One idea follows from another – or it doesn't – and if you want some of your beliefs to lead to other beliefs, you have no choice but to be rational. We're committed to it by the very act of discussing, arguing, debating, persuading and convincing.
— Steven PinkerCognitive Scientist & Psychologist Known for Research on Language and Human Nature
Those cycles don't exist – that's not what history is like. Disasters keep coming along at random intervals, they are not normally distributed... That's hard for our brains to deal with… we don't like the idea that history is just a lot of random shocks without any predictable features.
— Niall FergusonBritish historian and author specializing in financial and military history
The story of modernity is a story of scientific advance – but in reality, with every step forward, we're taking half a step backward in terms of making ourselves more fragile.
— Niall FergusonBritish historian and author specializing in financial and military history
Art, for him, is a crucial means for turning thinking into doing in the world.
— Olafur EliassonIcelandic-Danish artist known for immersive light and weather installations
Creation, whatever form it takes, must improve the lives of as many people as possible.
— Philippe StarckRenowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design
An object must be useful before being beautiful.
— Philippe StarckRenowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design
Subversive, ethical, ecological, political, humorous… this is how I see my duty as a designer.
— Philippe StarckRenowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design
No one has to be a genius, but everyone has to participate.
— Philippe StarckRenowned French Industrial Designer & Architect Known for Innovative Product Design
My hands have been known mostly for the leather gloves that I've used as an instrument to punish opposing fighters. Outside the ring, though, I want my legacy to be the man with bare hands that offered kindness and hope to those in need.
— Manny PacquiaoWorld Champion Boxer & Philippine Senator
There are really no defeats in life, just opportunities to become better, stronger.
— Manny PacquiaoWorld Champion Boxer & Philippine Senator
It's become synonymous with clothing but ultimately fashion is anything popular in a culture at any given time.
— Claudia SchifferSupermodel and fashion icon of the 1990s