Wisdom in fragments

To be a billionaire in America today is less a matter of merit than it is a matter of being at the right place at the right time, and being a beneficiary of a set of rules designed to benefit billionaires.

Labor Secretary & Economist; Leading Voice on Inequality

America has a class system, and it's becoming more rigid all the time. As inequality widens the damage spills over to children, and the ladder becomes so long that you have little hope of getting too far up it in your lifetime.

Labor Secretary & Economist; Leading Voice on Inequality

It's not that capitalism is failing, but rather that the organisation of capitalism is succumbing to wealth and power. People with extraordinary power and wealth will organise and enforce markets in such a way that it benefits their wealth and adds to their power- it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy- a vicious cycle of more wealth and power.

Labor Secretary & Economist; Leading Voice on Inequality

I wish I had known that Football is the most important part of the least important parts of my life. A bad result or losing in a final of the champions League is hard to take, but there are worse things to endure in life.

Legendary football manager with multiple Champions League titles

The hardest part of the job is telling those players that they are not playing, I remember from my playing days how that felt. This is when compassion is an important tool as well.

Legendary football manager with multiple Champions League titles

I know that there is an arc and that one day, either at my choosing or the club's, I will begin the downward part of the arc. I know when this is coming because people at the club stop talking about the future. That is a big sign.

Legendary football manager with multiple Champions League titles

Failure is an important tool with which one can reassess and reconstruct an idea or process, it is an essential element of the feedback loop. Failure should be used to step back and question your method and weaknesses. To recognize failure early can ultimately make one much stronger down the road.

Legendary football manager with multiple Champions League titles

So many people say, 'Jacqueline, I would love to change the world- but I don't know my purpose yet…' Purpose doesn't come to people sitting at the starting blocks and thinking about purpose. You have to live it.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

Inside each of us are monsters and angels- there are no divisions between good and bad people- and I've seen how those times of insecurity can make us do terrible things to each other.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

Those who have the most meaningful, purpose filled lives tend to dream so big – that those dreams will rarely be completed in a lifetime. What keeps you going is the beauty you encounter at every juncture of the path.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

I'm constantly bemused when I hear about some amazing energy or agricultural company that is for profit, but works with low-income people and a non-profit leader says, 'you know Jacqueline, charging people who are poor is immoral…' – you know what else is immoral? 700 million people who have no electricity.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

We cannot focus only on the material aspects of poverty- we must address the poverty of spirit that's present in every one of our broken institutions: health systems, economic systems, criminal justice systems, and food systems. If we are going to solve the toughest problems we face as a world right now, we're going to need new operating principles that are compatible with a deeply interconnected world.

Founder of Acumen Fund & social entrepreneur focused on global poverty alleviation

I went from knowing the value of a dollar to forgetting the difference between $10,000 and $30,000 because everything was expensive. I certainly I got hoodwinked sometimes: people would Google me and the business and charge me astronomical prices.

Founder of Nasty Gal & Author of "#GIRLBOSS

Success means having a lifestyle that I enjoy. It means slowing down, enjoying what I do, and having as few stakeholders as possible. I don't want a bunch of investors. I don't want a ton of employees.

Founder of Nasty Gal & Author of "#GIRLBOSS

I'm bad at grieving; perhaps that's why I keep going. Some call it resilience, but it's likely just escapism. When you keep moving, the wind moves behind you, and you leave behind who you once were and move towards something new.

Founder of Nasty Gal & Author of "#GIRLBOSS

I actually encrypt my wishes and goals into the things I do. There are creative ways for each of us to embed our wishes into our daily lives, but we have to set those wishes to start with.

Founder of Nasty Gal & Author of "#GIRLBOSS