Skip to content

The question

What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore?
Lech Wałęsa

President of Poland, 1990–1995; co-founder and chairman of the Solidarity trade union

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
When I recall my own path of life I cannot but speak of the violence, hatred and lies. A lesson drawn from such experiences, however, was that we can effectively oppose violence only if we ourselves do not resort to it.

Oslo City Hall (lecture read on his behalf by Bogdan Cywiński), The Nobel Foundation, 11 December 1983 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 78 →
Marvin Minsky Cognitive scientist; co-founder of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
So any student who wants to get into psychology, right now the students are like lemmings. They say, “Well, it’s popular to study brain science, I’ll do that.” Or, “It’s popular to do neural networks; I see 30,000 people doing it, it must be good.” And my advice is if a lot of people are doing it, don’t waste your time.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 4 May 2001 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 ↗
Annie Proulx Novelist and short-story writer
Write slowly and by hand only about subjects that interest you. […] Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading.
Recorded The Guardian Review, 20 February 2010 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 ↗

More on time & hindsight

Also answered this

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Óscar Arias Sánchez, Wendy Kopp, Frank M. Johnson Jr., Desmond Tutu, Benazir Bhutto

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer