What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?
Recorded Leymah Gbowee said elsewhere, not written here
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.”

Academy of Achievement interview, 13 September 2018 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 ↗
Ratan Tata Chairman of Tata Sons, 1991–2012
I would hope that most of you will in fact strive for leadership in a principled manner with values, because that would be the foundation that this country needs to have if it is to take its place in the world. I would hope that each of you would lead by example and that each of you would live by the principles that you espouse.
Recorded Indian School of Business, Hyderabad — graduation address, Rediff Business, 11 June 2010 source ↗
Willem Kolff Physician and inventor; builder of the first practical artificial kidney
By the way, the guys with very high grades are not necessarily the people that are the most successful in later life. They may be the ones that can regurgitate gracefully, and they get very high grades. But if the guys that have to work for it and do not have such good grades can do something extra, and prove that they can perform, they may have a chance.
Recorded Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement source ↗
Charlie Munger Vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, 1978–2023
Luckily, I got at a very early age the idea that the safest way to try and get what you want is to try and deserve what you want. It's such a simple idea. It's the golden rule so to speak. You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end. There is no ethos, in my opinion, that is better for any lawyer or any other person to have.
Recorded USC Gould School of Law commencement, Speakola, 2007 source ↗

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