“They talk about Steve Jobs having a reality distortion field…. but all the entrepreneurs I met who achieved great things had that. They all had a wilful denial of reality… against all evidence to the contrary they had to believe they would succeed.. that's ultimately what entrepreneurs do.”— Doug Menuez
The quote archive
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
Most people we have worked with who have accomplished great things have an other-centred purpose, and that's never just 'make a lot of money…' – it could be to make women's lives easier, to close the inequality gap, to change the world, it's something which isn't strictly personal and selfish.
— Angela DuckworthPsychologist & Author of "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
The human mind can shape itself – the human mind can take itself as an object and change – no other living creature on the planet can do that, and it gives me tremendous optimism.
— Angela DuckworthPsychologist & Author of "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
You cannot genuinely connect with another human being through technology. You can only connect with other human beings through the mind, and through love, but technology can serve the process.
— Marianne WilliamsonAuthor of "A Return to Love" & Spiritual Activist
Every acorn is already programmed to become an oak tree, every embryo is programmed to become a baby, and every bud is programmed to become a blossom. Human beings are programmed as well, but we have something an acorn does not; free will. Every moment we live- we either allow the natural intelligence of life to unfold through us- or not. That natural intelligence is love.
— Marianne WilliamsonAuthor of "A Return to Love" & Spiritual Activist
You become immune to the evils of criticism and flattery and enjoy a fundamental self-esteem and not a desire for self-image. This is dependent on others and can be taken away any time you are not validated.
— Deepak ChopraWellness Entrepreneur & Author Promoting Mind-Body Medicine and Spirituality
Most people run around like biological robots, as if we are an algorithm not a being. We become the predictable outcomes of the conditioned reflexes of our nerves, constantly triggered by people in reaction to circumstances.
— Deepak ChopraWellness Entrepreneur & Author Promoting Mind-Body Medicine and Spirituality
You have to start questioning, and be mindfully aware of your thoughts. When you do that, you realise that you are an observer of your thoughts, not the originator.
— Deepak ChopraWellness Entrepreneur & Author Promoting Mind-Body Medicine and Spirituality
You achieve your best performance by doing the best you can without having your mind clouded by drifting thoughts of what could happen when something goes wrong. That's what you train for, and your training gives you the ability to build the mental tools and programmes of action to make good decisions.
— Buzz AldrinLunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11; Second Person to Walk on Moon
In life, we all take various risks- not knowing how serious an outcome will be when we start. For so many things we do, we have to take a risk on someone else's word, with only their judgement calculating what the risk will be to us.
— Buzz AldrinLunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11; Second Person to Walk on Moon
Don't become paralysed by anticipating the unexpected. It does not pay to be worried about failure. If your mind is crowded with thoughts of what could happen, you will never achieve your best performance.
— Buzz AldrinLunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11; Second Person to Walk on Moon
Every failure has lessons it can give us- and knowing failure is possible and monitoring where you expect it to occur, allows you to divert your attention to the necessary observations and actions to carry out the positive.
— Buzz AldrinLunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11; Second Person to Walk on Moon
We like to think of data as being objective, but the answers we get are often shaped by the questions we ask. When those questions are biased, the data is, too.
— Melinda GatesCo-Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Advocate
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
There are really no defeats in life, just opportunities to become better, stronger.
— Manny PacquiaoWorld Champion Boxer & Philippine Senator
Looking back, it was one of the best things that could've happened to me. It was a rude awakening and it felt like my world was crashing in on me. It was a rough few days after the fight but instead of choosing to feel sorry for myself, I used the defeat as fuel for more determination.
— Manny PacquiaoWorld Champion Boxer & Philippine Senator