There is a famous Iraqi idiom which states that if you think your opponents can eat you for dinner, then you'd better eat them for lunch. If your opponent is too big and powerful to eat you right-now, you'd better eat them for lunch before they eat you. Commitment problems from our opponents lead us to act, and that's another reason why rational man can go to war.
— Christopher Blattmanthe share of the population in the top tercile is negatively associated with crime. When crime increases twofold the share of the rich tercile drops by 1.3%. In addition, we see that the share of the population in the poorest tercile increases with crime
I don't think it's a coincidence that globally, we're having the biggest crisis of democracy since the 1930s. At the same time as we're finding it hard to focus and pay attention, we also can't listen to each other.
When Tiananmen Square happened, tanks were sent in to deal with them. It's not a joke. Do whatever it takes to stay united… People in front of tanks were crushed. The unity of China is more important than those people in Tiananmen Square. Anyone who undermines the constitution shall be put to death
I think most limits are self imposed. The limits we place on ourselves are between our ears – it's our minds telling us we could never do X, or achieve Y. It's our minds deciding what is possible, or impossible. Guess what… when you go out and do something you thought was impossible, it expands your perspective on everything.
There is no such thing as true-altruism (even philanthropists get something out of giving!). What is this individuals' payoff from working with you?
My first ask in any meeting wasn't for money or to put their name on something; it was simply for a second meeting, an opportunity to show them what we're doing and what we're building.
Music is woven into the fabric of the universe. As far back as Pythagoras and Kepler, scientists were writing about the fact that music was intrinsic in the planets… part of the harmonic series in sound. Music is built into our neurology, our survival instincts and our communication.
Hedge funds give less transparency than almost anything that people invest money in... Since investors have accepted much less transparency and much less attractive terms in liquidity and information rights, they have not been able to pick apart the sources of return.
In our market-economy, consumers have the power. I also believe that almost every consumer has an element of compassion in herself or himself.
This single revenue source, within less than ten years of its existence, has empowered women to such an extent. This clearly shows the significant influence and impact it has had on these women's lives, on female representation, and on the power that money wields.
Children are bought and sold like animals, sometimes at a lower price than animals. 168 million children work as child labourers, more than 200 million children who should be in education are not at school.
Early on, being told no helped me figure out what I wanted my yes's to be. I learned who I wanted to be from people telling me who I could not be.