Wisdom in fragments

I can see from people I've lost in my life that the thing you leave behind is love, so I hope I've created a bit of that too… I know I've been lucky to receive a lot.

British Pop Singer & "Murder on the Dancefloor" Artist

Grayson Perry once said that, 'art is our way of creating the narrative to what goes on around us…' and that really stuck with me. As silly as the discos are, they are actually how our family have made a story out of our world being turned upside down.

British Pop Singer & "Murder on the Dancefloor" Artist

It may be an overused phrase, but the only way social media can work is if you are incredibly authentic. If you try and cultivate and curate too much it can be very obvious and transparent.

British Pop Singer & "Murder on the Dancefloor" Artist

To have a career, you have to be able to break out of your ways of thinking about success, otherwise you'll just end up disappointed. Nobody has an upward trajectory all the time- there's undulations that go on.

British Pop Singer & "Murder on the Dancefloor" Artist

The crucial bit came when I was 20 and we got dropped from our record deal, leaving us high and dry. That was when I thought, 'am I going to be someone who only wants to do music when it's all going well? And only when it's served to me on a plate? Or do I want to do this… no matter what…' For me, there was nothing else, I wanted to make music.

British Pop Singer & "Murder on the Dancefloor" Artist

Music is something that affects your senses in a way that nothing else really can- it's like a time-travel portal! You can listen to something and it transports back to that place… that bar… that nightclub… that time with your friends….

British Pop Singer & "Murder on the Dancefloor" Artist

At its best, music is empathic… we can relate to it… it moves us and makes us feel connected. The best music for me captures a zeitgeist, captures something of the time and something of what we feel.

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

Music leads you to a greater understanding. Einstein said that relativity came to him through musical intuition- he was a great violinist, and was also Chair of the Princeton Orchestra. Bach had a phenomenal, and intuitive, understanding of mathematics too.

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

Music is also incorruptible in many ways. I can hear when music isn't authentic, or when it isn't coming from the heart and soul. Music is a pure, universal, language that can transcend boundaries at a time. Particularly now, when politicians are using semantics to erect more boundaries, music continues to be more and more relevant.

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

I genuinely believe that if music comes from your heart and soul, that people will hear that and will be able to connect with the truth of it. For a musician, that's really important- you have to be true to yourself and to the feelings you have when you make music.

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

Music allows us to express our soul and feelings in a way that's very difficult to replicate with words. I've spent more of my life playing music than I have speaking, and I find it a much more effective way of communicating my feelings and thoughts than words have ever been.

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

Music is woven into the fabric of the universe. As far back as Pythagoras and Kepler, scientists were writing about the fact that music was intrinsic in the planets… part of the harmonic series in sound. We also have a whole branch of knowledge called zoomusicology, which shows that an appreciation of music and sound is a part of nature, not just unique to humans.

British-Indian composer and musician known for world music and film scores

One of the most effective flip-floppers in American history was Abraham Lincoln. How lucky are we that he was willing to change that particular opinion? He stayed true to his values and adjusted his policies to advance those values.

Organizational psychologist & bestselling author on work culture and human potential

We need to be more nuanced about how we define integrity. For me, it's not about sticking to opinions, but about sticking to values. I'm very flexible about the best way to live those values.

Organizational psychologist & bestselling author on work culture and human potential

Too often when we find someone disagreeing with us, our question is about why. Why do you believe this ridiculous thing? What tends to work better is a how question… This kind of approach helps to view the real complexity of a situation and reveals gaps in knowledge.

Organizational psychologist & bestselling author on work culture and human potential

I should be just as excited to find out I was wrong as to prove I am right. Perhaps I should be even more excited about being wrong, because if I am always proving myself right, I'm just affirming my beliefs and not evolving them… and that's not learning at all, is it?

Organizational psychologist & bestselling author on work culture and human potential