One question · 6 of 82 answers to it
Biomedical engineer; Institute Professor at MIT
In fact, what I usually say to people, “Probably some of the most successful scientists are the ones that know how to deal with failure well.” Because it’s easy to feel good when you…
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 2012
Atmospheric chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1995
At first the research did not seem to be particularly interesting – I carried out a systematic search for processes that might destroy the CFCs in the lower atmosphere, but nothing appeared…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2007
26th President of the United States, 1901–1909; Governor of New York 1899–1900; Assistant Secretary of the Navy 1897–1898
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
Recorded · The American Presidency Project, University of California Santa Barbara · 1910
Chancellor of Germany, 2005–2021; Leader of the Christian Democratic Union 2000–2018
The Berlin Wall limited my opportunities. It quite literally stood in my way.
Recorded · The Harvard Gazette, Harvard University · 2019
Psychologist; laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 2002
I got quite nice results in my one-question studies, but never wrote up any of the work, because I had set myself impossible standards: in order not to pollute the literature, I wanted to…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2002
Financier; co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
We have made many investments in our history. Not all have succeeded. As entrepreneurs willing to take some risk, we have made many mistakes.
Recorded · KKR · 2024
Answers marked Recorded were said elsewhere and are quoted with the publication and date they came from. Those people have not joined — nobody here answers on anyone else's behalf.
First Lady of the United States 1933–1945; United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly 1945–1952; Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights 1946–1951
If silence seems to give approval, then remaining silent is cowardly.
Recorded · Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, The George Washington University · 1944
Founder of the Green Belt Movement; Member of Parliament for Tetu, Kenya, 2002–2007; Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources 2003–2005
In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground.
Recorded · The Nobel Foundation · 2004
Gynaecological surgeon; Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2018
Taking action means saying 'no' to indifference. If there is a war to be waged, it is the war against the indifference which is eating away at our societies.
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2018
Commissioner of the National Football League, 1960–1989
Never underestimate the power of an education. Everyone will tell you that, and you say, “Well, it’s not for me.” But if you can get it, it’s the most valuable thing you can get.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1991
Education campaigner; co-founder of the Malala Fund; United Nations Messenger of Peace
Her story is why I dedicate the Nobel Peace Prize money to the Malala Fund, to help give girls quality education, everywhere, anywhere in the world and to raise their voices.
Recorded · The Nobel Foundation · 2014
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
Novelist and editor; Nobel laureate in Literature, 1993
I, at first, thought I didn’t have a ritual, but then I remembered that I always get up and make a cup of coffee while it is still dark—it must be dark—and then I drink the coffee and watch…
Recorded · The Paris Review · 1993
Veterinary surgeon and immunologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1996
The two things that I miss most when living out of Australia are the bush and the Pacific coast, especially fishing in the surf at night!
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 1996
Film actress; twice winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress
Doing cryptic crosswords or, equally, reading tales of mystery and imagination.
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2005
Recorded for public figures, from the source their answers were taken from. Browse by era too.
Every question the bank can deal, in the order it was written. See all 126.
Alain de Botton, Amy Poehler, Andi Oliver, Anthony Hopkins, Arlo Parks, Barack Obama, Billy Crudup, Clara Amfo, Daron Acemoglu, Denton Cooley, du Beke, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, Frank O. Gehry, Fran Lebowitz, Gemma Whelan, Hayley Mills, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Vine, Josette Simon, Judith Kerr, Kirsty Young, Lauren Laverne, Linus Torvalds, Luke Pritchard, Malala Yousafzai, Megan Rapinoe, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Neneh Cherry, Oliver Sacks, Oti Mabuse, Paul Kalanithi, Ray Davies, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Rupert Graves, Rylan Clark-Neal, Sam Shepard, Shakin' Stevens, Wayne Koestenbaum, Yoko Ono, Yury Gogotsi
You are dealt a few questions at a time and answer the ones you want to. What you write gets a permanent address and keeps it. Rewrite it whenever you like and say why — the new version goes up beside the old one rather than over it, so changing your mind reads as thinking rather than as a reversal.
You write before you read. Other members' answers to a question stay shut until you have answered it or passed on it, because reading first changes what you would have said. Passing is free and it is permanent.
Most of what is here so far was said somewhere else and recorded with its source — a named person, a publication and a date, on every line. Nothing has been deleted.