Alexis Ohanian: What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

The question

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two fully readable publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Alexis Ohanian

Co-founder of Reddit; founder of Seven Seven Six

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The whole ordeal gives you a wisdom at a young age — to realize what matters in life are the people and experiences (not things) one acquires along the way.

Note to Self, CBS News, 20 March 2019 source ↗

Others on this question

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Jack Davenport

We are not here for long – try not to take everything too seriously.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 March 2024 source ↗

Rosalind Eleazar

That fear and excitement sometimes feel quite similar and you can misinterpret one for the other.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 February 2025 source ↗

Eleanor Tomlinson English actress

Talk to people. Learn from them. And put your phone away.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 May 2024 source ↗

Ahmed Zewail Chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1999

It was also evident to me that if you really want to achieve and do well in American society, you have to work, and work hard…You have to work, you have to work.

Recorded Heidi Aspaturian, Caltech Oral History Project, Caltech Archives Oral History Project, 2015 source ↗

More from Alexis Ohanian

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Question Who do you turn to when you need advice? Relationships

As for his internationally renowned wife, professional tennis player and four-time Olympic gold medalist Serena Williams, he said he often asks her for advice on mastering a field.

Recorded Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures event, Johns Hopkins Hub, 30 April 2018 source ↗