President of Costa Rica, 1986–1990 and 2006–2010
My country is a country of teachers. It is therefore a country of peace. We discuss our successes and failures in complete freedom.
Recorded · The Nobel Foundation · 1987
In their forties
Mid-career, and the decade in which people are most often asked what their job actually consists of.
42 people · 85 answers
What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you have ever made — of money, time, or energy?
India Test and one-day international cricketer, 1989–2013
In the last 24 years that I have played for India I have made new friends, and before that I have had friends from my childhood. They have all had a terrific contribution.
Recorded · ESPNcricinfo · 2013
Novelist and short-story writer
Remember, if you sit at your desk for 15 or 20 years, every day, not counting weekends, it changes you. It just does. It may not improve your temper, but it fixes something else.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2010
Novelist and screenwriter
The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life.
Recorded · Harvard Gazette · 2008
Swiss professional tennis player, 1998–2022
Of all the gifts that tennis has given me over the years, the greatest, without a doubt, has been the people I've met along the way: my friends, my competitors, and most of all the fans who…
Recorded · Reuters · 2022
Co-founder and chief executive of Google DeepMind; Nobel laureate in Chemistry
I think chess — actually, a number of things that I learned when I was young — it wasn't so much the chess itself; it was the skills that you were training while you were playing chess.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 2017
What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love?
Singer, songwriter and former television comedian
I have a problem with my ears. I really have a problem. When I was living in the city, I threatened people because of some noise they were making that was bothering me.
Recorded · The Believer, Issue 35 · 2006
United States professional tennis player, 1995–2022
I love to entertain. I'm not sure every player sees it that way, but I love the performance aspect of it—to be able to entertain people week after week.
Recorded · Vogue · 2022
Novelist, essayist and journalist
Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2010
British wheelchair racer, 1988–2007; member of the House of Lords
One thing that I did was race against the British men a lot and they used to push me round the road; they used to make my life really hard but then when I was racing against the best women…
Recorded · The Best You Magazine · 2015
What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?
Prime Minister of Pakistan, 1988–1990 and 1993–1996
I’d tell them, “If you believe in something, go for it, but know that when you go for it there’s a price to be paid.
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2000
Neurosurgeon; chair of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
If you want to do something, one of the smartest things that you can do is go find someone that’s done it and to try to get them to show you how they did it, to show you where the potholes…
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2001
President of Costa Rica, 1986–1990 and 2006–2010
History was not written by men who predicted failure, who gave up their dreams, who abandoned their principles, who allowed their laziness to put their intelligence to sleep.
Recorded · The Nobel Foundation · 1987
President of Poland, 1990–1995; co-founder and chairman of the Solidarity trade union
When I recall my own path of life I cannot but speak of the violence, hatred and lies.
Recorded · The Nobel Foundation · 1983
Financier; co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
When I went through school, I was in a hurry. I was an economics major as an undergraduate, and I was a finance major in graduate school.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1991
Founder and former chief executive of Amazon; founder of Blue Origin
My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said, “Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever.”
Recorded · Princeton University · 2010
Everyone here · A–Z
Amy Tan, Andrew Ng, Anne Enright, Barbara Jordan, Benazir Bhutto, Cathy Freeman, Chris Hoy, Dan Harris, Darren Aronofsky, David Oyelowo, Dax Shepard, Demis Hassabis, Elan Lee, Esther Duflo, Haile Gebrselassie, Halla Tómasdóttir, Henry R. Kravis, J.K. Rowling, Jacinda Ardern, Jacqueline Novogratz, Jeff Bezos, Juana Molina, Keith Black, Kevin Rose, Lech Wałęsa, Lee Berger, Leymah Gbowee, Linus Torvalds, Lynsey Addario, Mellody Hobson, Nicholas Kristof, Óscar Arias Sánchez, Roger Federer, Sachin Tendulkar, Sarah Waters, Serena Williams, Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Wojcicki, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Tony Fadell, Wendy Kopp, Will Self