Wisdom in fragments

When you're identifying talent in music or other industries- one of the most important things to identify is which of those individuals is able to marry talent with extraordinary drive.

Music executive and manager, founder of Meadows and Q&A platform

I'm always searching for that black-swan, what is that project, or who is that artist that feels specials, and feels counter-culture. Who is that artist that feels interesting and has a bold, unapologetic point of view? That's what pulls me in- and you know what, if you find that and put the right strategy around it? You can disrupt culture.

Music executive and manager, founder of Meadows and Q&A platform

Passion matters… It's rarely a straight-line to success, usually it's a roller-coaster.

Co-Founder of America Online (AOL) & Venture Capitalist

Great entrepreneurs are people with tremendous passion. Without passion you cannot go on a journey that requires such huge personal sacrifices, looks bleak, risky and impossible in the beginning…

Founder and Chairman of Infosys, Indian IT Pioneer

It's a combination of passion, vision, creativity and a sense of adventure.

Founder of Virgin Group & British Billionaire Entrepreneur

All modern humans share a common ancestor. We all emerged from Africa, 200,000 years ago, as our species moved across the Earth, adapting to the differing climates and conditions of our planet. We are one big, beautiful, dysfunctional and incredible family, tearing itself apart over something as inconsequential as our hue.

The polarising EU referendum brought much of this to a head. Let me be clear: I do not, by any stretch, feel that people that voted to leave the EU were racist- but it's clear that UKIP, EDL, and their peers realised the power of the race card, and played it to their advantage.

For the first time in over 20 years, I feel brown… I find myself being extra careful in terms of how I dress, where I go, how I speak, what I carry and how I behave; not to conform to any new social norms- but rather, so that people don't mistake me for a terrorist, or make assumptions about my intentions.

I guess like any other entrepreneur, but Brown? – this may seem inconsequential, but sometimes, the 'them and us' in society only becomes apparent when pointed out.

I assumed this was just a fact of life in the UK, but because I saw the warmth of some people's welcome in the business community in particular, I overlooked it…

We need a blue revolution to match the green revolution. This means investing in water infrastructure, technology, and governance with the same urgency we once applied to food security.

Water resources engineer and global leader in sustainable water management and governance

The water crisis is not a future threat - it's a present reality. Every minute we delay action, two children die from preventable water-related diseases. This is not just an environmental issue, it's a moral emergency.

Water resources engineer and global leader in sustainable water management and governance

Climate change isn't just warming the planet - it's fundamentally rewiring the hydrological cycle. Wet places are getting wetter, dry places drier, and the timing of water availability is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

Hydrologist & water security expert; founded Pacific Institute

We've entered the age of Peak Water - where the easy sources are already being used and future supplies will be harder to find, more expensive to develop, and come with greater environmental and social costs.

Hydrologist & water security expert; founded Pacific Institute

Water is like energy - it can neither be created nor destroyed, only transformed. But unlike energy, water is essential for every single biological process. We're not just managing a resource, we're managing life itself.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist and U.S. Energy Secretary

We have enough water on this planet for everyone's needs, but not for everyone's greed. The crisis is fundamentally about distribution, access, and governance - not absolute scarcity.

International Labour Organization Director-General from 2012 to 2022