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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John Lewis U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1987–2020; Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 1963–1966
You must find a way to get in the way, you must find a way to get into trouble — good trouble, necessary trouble.
Recorded Emory University Quadrangle, Atlanta, Emory News Center, Emory University, 12 May 2014 source ↗
Patti Smith Musician, poet and photographer
Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work and protect your work. […] Protect your work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency.
Recorded Christian Lund, Louisiana Literature festival, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012, Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012 source ↗
Akio Toyoda President of Toyota Motor Corporation, 2009–2023; chairman from 2023
Don't screw it up. Don't take it for granted. Try new things, even if you're old. Do the right thing, because if you do the right thing, the money will follow. Decide what you stand for. Finally, don't worry about being cool—be warm.
Recorded Babson College Graduate Commencement, Babson College (Babson Thought & Action), 21 May 2019 source ↗
Henry R. Kravis 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. I was in a hurry to succeed when I got out in the business world. I’m sorry I didn’t take more courses in the humanities and in history and in the arts.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 12 February 1991 source ↗

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