“A regional war in say, South Asia, which involved as few as one hundred nuclear bombs would result in firestorms in their urban centres that would put so much smoke and particulate into the atmosphere that the earth would be covered in a cloud that would reflect sunlight back into space and reduce global temperatures but two to three degrees for several years. This would kill most food crops on the planet, resulting in massive famines and starvation.”— Joseph Cirincione
The quote archive
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
Having a plan, feeling confident and being competent are the greatest antidotes to fear. If you're just trying to deal with the unknown by crossing your fingers and hoping, you will be utterly helpless when a situation finally manifests.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
99.9% of the time, you are not in a burning building- and that is precisely the time to think about what you would do in that 0.1% of time when it is on fire.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
We have been interested in celebrities since the dawn of time. Jesus was the first celebrity, then the royal families. Celebrity culture exists even at a micro-level... It's human nature to be interested in the captain of the football team, the head cheerleader or who is doing what with who.
— Perez HiltonCelebrity gossip blogger and media personality known for celebrity news website
The world of celebrity offers an escape from the real world, and offers different things to different people. To many, the celebrity world is aspirational, they imagine themselves living that lifestyle and dream of how it would be to go to that premiere, have that fancy house, or that expensive vacation. For others, the world of celebrity is like watching a car-wreck.
— Perez HiltonCelebrity gossip blogger and media personality known for celebrity news website
In Silicon Valley there's a sense that there are 30 individuals who are 10x more capable than most people, it's like a power law scaling of talent... founders get immense leeway, capital rushes toward them... it also creates biases and situations where founders have more power than they should in their company.
— Nicholas ThompsonEditor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine & Cybersecurity Expert
People think these founders are all brilliant and can't make mistakes, we've found that; there's a sense that they can fix everything or have the answers for everything… they don't, and they can't.
— Kara SwisherTech Journalist & Co-Founder of Recode Media
The moment you send Billy Connolly, Lenny Henry and Victoria Wood out somewhere to make an appeal – they are representatives of 'normal people' perhaps in some ways more than pop stars.... Comedians are a kind of humdrum kind of celebrity, and as such I think they're very good at evoking empathy.
— Richard CurtisBritish Film Director & Screenwriter of Romantic Comedies
I was talking to some kids last night and they were asking me 'do you remember that first moment that you knew you'd made it', and I said, 'of course I remember that moment, I'd been chasing it all my life'.
— Nile RodgersLegendary Guitarist & Producer: Chic Founder, Producer for David Bowie, Madonna
When you don't know your self-worth, you're more docile and easier to control by the 'machine.' That's the cult-like structure society is built around.
— Rose McGowanActress & #MeToo activist who exposed Harvey Weinstein harassment
The key component of bravery is integrity. What I saw growing up was the reality that people would often give their integrity to make life more comfortable in the short term; but guess what, that leads to your integrity being chipped away until you are left with nothing.
— Rose McGowanActress & #MeToo activist who exposed Harvey Weinstein harassment
Individuality is my biggest fight, not #MeToo. People need to realise their own power, their own freedom, and their own ability to be better.
— Rose McGowanActress & #MeToo activist who exposed Harvey Weinstein harassment
People in power live in fear of their power being taken away, and they fight like bears in a cage that are being backed into a corner. I had no idea how hard those in power would fight me, and it's an extraordinarily difficult thing to be on the receiving end of.
— Rose McGowanActress & #MeToo activist who exposed Harvey Weinstein harassment
Our mate choices are the ultimate form of consumer choice. I can pretty much fit most of our purposeful behaviours under the umbrella of consumption.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
Humans can be parasitized by actual brain worms, but also by idea pathogens that cause them to behave in profoundly maladaptive ways.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
We are meaning driven – it's not enough for us to what there is, we need to know why.
— Dr. Jordan B. PetersonClinical Psychologist, Author of "12 Rules for Life," Public Intellectual
We are hard wired through our biology to understand: what there is, what to do about what there is, that there is a difference between knowing what there is and knowing what to do about what there is and what the difference is.
— Dr. Jordan B. PetersonClinical Psychologist, Author of "12 Rules for Life," Public Intellectual