From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
A refugee, we might say, is a person fleeing life-threatening conditions. In daily parlance and for journalist purposes this is roughly the meaning of refugeehood. Predictably, in legal and political circles, among those officials who formulate refugee policies for states and international agencies, the meaning is considerably more circumscribed.
We have taught them they are American, Indian or African. Children have never created borders, religions, faiths or caste systems. Children have not been responsible for wars and divisions in society- we did that… and now we're imposing on our children, from their birth, a divisive image of who they are. We need to learn from children, and learn simplicity, forgiveness and the beauty of life.
It's a myth that both sides of a negotiation have to be equally happy or unhappy. A great relationship is where people are happy- not just with how things are but with how they got to be.
Freedom without struggle is an illusion. I love problems. How we deal with problems defines who we are and what values we stand for.
If you feel scared; the starting point is to understand why. You need to then understand how to make the fear work for you – if an emotion doesn't work for you, it works against you.
We spend a huge amount of our lives away from the immediacy of our existence, lost in reflections on the past or anxieties of the future. This misadventure in episodic memory takes a huge toll on us, leading to stress, anxiety, depression and exacerbating a range of complex medical and psychological conditions we may have.
Going to space gave me the opportunity to separate from our planet, but in doing so it allowed me to feel more connected to it than I ever had on its surface in the middle of it all. I carry that with me all the time now.
People often talk about life hacks, but for me, the real 'hack' is simply to remain curious and willing. It's about living in a space between willingness and curiosity—willing to embrace discomfort as you pursue questions, without a clear idea of the answers.
The most corrupting idea about power is that it gives you a set of techniques to enable you to get more of what you want, no questions asked. If we think about power in that way, our soul will get eroded. We need to start thinking differently, the Ubuntu interpretation would be that parts of us are hidden in others – that we will only fully exist if we explore and encounter.
What people fail to recognise is that fear is different for everyone. Your emotions are unique to you and you've really, really got to take time to concentrate on yourself.
You are the king (or queen) of your castle. When you step off land into the ocean, you're at the mercy of the most powerful energy source there is – you can paddle out into the water with a picture in your mind of what the surf might be like and what waves might come, and things can change… the wind… the tide… the swell…
We all share the same 'planet in space'. When you take the time to think about it, that 'we're all in space' part is pretty compelling. I would argue though that small does not mean insignificant. It is a bit of a contradiction – seeing the beauty of Earth from space and the reality of how small our planet is in the grand scheme of the universe, but at the same time recognizing the significance in how perfectly placed in the universe our planet is to take care of us.