From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
I learned a long time ago that life is not a race against other people. Life is a competition with yourself. One of the greatest achievements in life is to outperform yourself and live your greatest life possible. Greatness lives in all of us, but we must all find what it is that ignites our souls.
My hope is that the world will come to realise that doing good and doing well are not in opposition, and then effectively can begin to contribute to solving the big challenges we face, environmentally and socially. If I contributed in some small way to making that happen, I'd feel very good about my life.
By definition, existential risks are those which- by definition- could terminate the species, or permanently limit the long term potential of our civilisation. Martin Rees, the distinguished scientist, said that the difference between killing 90% of humanity, and 100% of humanity is not 10%. The difference is huge. By killing 100% of humanity, you are also killing all future generations.
Power is seized with the gun and maintained with the pen. Controlling public opinion through propaganda and misinformation is the most critical task of an authoritarian power.
The French Revolution really is this incredible hinge in the story of Western political thought. For a long time, it was just taken for granted that the French Revolution was the starting point of political modernity.
I believe happiness is a consequence, not a goal. If you engage in the right activities that bring contentment, happiness will naturally follow. Viewing happiness as a goal makes it elusive; it's like chasing an illusory concept.
If you had to make everything up in your life, from the start, with no input whatsoever – that wouldn't be freedom – you'd be less free; you'd have to think constantly about what you should or should not do. There would be no structure for your life choices.
Abraham Maslow pointed out in the 1950s that flow is essentially what redeems the suffering of life. It's the psychological reward for mastery and without it, hard work can lead to burnout.
Navigating complexity and uncertainty requires long-term thinking, not long-term planning. Long-term thinking requires accepting, even enjoying, the challenges of unpredictability, builds the flexibility required to navigate it, and rejects simplified narratives that lose the nuance of this reality.
Food is not just sustenance. It's memory, it's culture, it's identity. When I cook, I'm telling the story of my grandmother, my mother, the streets of Amritsar where I grew up.
Read a lot. Never accept current standards. Always improve yourself. And remember, you always meet twice in life.
Stress doesn't come from what's going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what's going on in your life.