What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?
Recorded Frederick Sanger said elsewhere, not written here
Get on with it. But make sure you do want to do it. I think that’s the important thing, to be something that you would enjoy. If you only just go into science to get rich or to win gold medals, then I wouldn’t bother, but if you really want to enjoy yourself in the lab, then do it.

Academy of Achievement interview, 28 October 2000 source ↗

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Sundar Pichai Chief executive of Alphabet and Google
So take the time to find the thing that excites you more than anything else in the world. Not the thing your parents want you to do. Or the thing that all your friends are doing. Or that society expects of you.
Recorded Dear Class of 2020 (YouTube), Google (The Keyword), 7 June 2020 source ↗
Leymah Gbowee Peace activist; Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2011
My key message to her, as a nine-year-old, recently has been, “You don’t need to be friends with everyone, but you’re forced to respect everyone. And everyone doesn’t need to be friends with you, but everyone is forced to respect you.”
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 13 September 2018 source ↗
Marina Abramović Performance artist
Spend your time on something meaningful. Not on parties, and not on taking it easy. That’s not good enough. […] When you’re young, you think: Let’s party, do drugs, drink, waste it all, right? But as you get older, you look at what you’ve accomplished. And when you get old, you’ve run out of time. You have to ask yourself: Why am I here? Can I contribute anything to humanity, to society, my work?
Recorded University Post, University of Copenhagen public talk, University Post (uniavisen.dk), University of Copenhagen source ↗
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Founder and executive chairperson of Biocon
One day, I spoke to him about my sense of shame. He looked me in the eyes and told me that brewing was a science; it was not about getting drunk. He did not stop there. He said: 'Do not make judgment on things, people, and issues with half information.' He said there is truth in everything you see around. So, look for everything in its entirety. That was a game-changing moment for me.
Recorded Subroto Bagchi, Forbes India, 3 September 2009 source ↗

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Question How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? Failure & regret
They’re not failures, you try something and it doesn’t work, and some people, you know, get fed up with this, and I’ve known some of my friends and colleagues who have just decided to give up science because they can’t stand it, but I’ve always decided, you know, if it doesn’t work, forget it and start planning the next experiment, and that’s always exciting.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 28 October 2000 source ↗

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