My own answer to the contrarian question is that most people think the future of the world will be defined by globalization, but the truth is that technology matters more.

Today's 'best practices' lead to dead ends; the best paths are new and untried.

The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.

I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.

The most successful businesses have an idea for the future that's very different from the present.

I do think Bitcoin is the first [encrypted money] that has the potential to do something like change the world.

Every business is successful exactly to the extent that it does something others cannot.

In the '30s, the Keynesian stuff worked at least in the sense that you could print money without inflation because there was all this productivity growth happening. That's not going to work today.

Under perfect competition, in the long run no company makes an economic profit.

The most fundamental reason that even businesspeople underestimate the importance of sales is the systematic effort to hide it at every level of every field in a world secretly driven by it.

Of the six people who started PayPal, four had built bombs in high school.

When two people love one another, they fight the world together, not each other "~ Levon Peter Poe

This attitude is basic human nature. We'd rather look outward and blame others for ills that befall us than point the finger at ourselves.

What we did see was that jealousy is fear: it can corrode even if quite baseless.

Everywhere, even in the blackest abyss, he believed one might witness the divine. The shadows and contrast―absence itself―as important as the light and marble, for one cannot exist without the other.

The value of a sentiment is the amount of sacrifice you are prepared to make for it.

Evolution brings human beings. Human beings, through a long and painful process, bring humanity.

I love the idea of getting to play different characters and tell some stories. When you're passionate about a project, it's nice to get the part.

You can't judge the ability of a doctor by the amount of praise the undertakers give him.

I trust we shall never be reduced to the painful extremity of seeking the aid of Mirabeau.

I will continue to forcefully support nonproliferation activities around the world.