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The question

What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore?
Frank M. Johnson Jr.

United States district judge, Middle District of Alabama, 1955–1979; judge of the Eleventh Circuit

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
Study. Be honest. Don’t violate the laws and get in trouble. Get you a good spouse that will support you, because you never stop working and studying. The fact that you get the place just means you’ve started as far as the work and the pressure is concerned. That’s the only advice I’d know to give.

Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 16 March 1991 source ↗

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Lech Wałęsa 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. A lesson drawn from such experiences, however, was that we can effectively oppose violence only if we ourselves do not resort to it.
Recorded Oslo City Hall (lecture read on his behalf by Bogdan Cywiński), The Nobel Foundation, 11 December 1983 source ↗
George Schaller Field biologist and conservationist; Wildlife Conservation Society
Certainly, if you want to get into the field of biology these days, you should also study anthropology because so much work now is with communities. How do you help communities? How do you convince communities to protect their environment? — Especially if, let’s say, you have a tiger eating your cows. The natural gesture is to kill that tiger. Well, what are the alternatives? That’s the kind of thing one is now increasingly working with.
Recorded Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 7 November 2017 source ↗
Susan Butcher Dog musher; four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
But whenever you do find something — maybe it’s not as passionate for you as dog mushing has been for me — but the fact that you have any interest, that is what you should go with.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 29 June 1991 source ↗
Richard Ford Novelist and short-story writer
Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea.
Recorded The Guardian Review, 20 February 2010 source ↗

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