Long ago I had a professor who told me, 'Embrace the contradictions.' I think that is what is most interesting about people like Jobs.
Alex GibneyI feel that Julian Assange came to be both paranoid and self-regarding in ways that ultimately undermined his own mission.
Alex GibneyWhether or not he came to believe it - so many people, when they have a mission, come to believe something in a way that may have started out as a slogan. You know, L. Ron Hubbard, not to make a random comparison, started Scientology as a scam.
Alex GibneySuicides aren't heroic in my opinion. And I don't think anybody ever really knows why somebody commits suicide.
Alex GibneyMany people, including myself, thought of Jobs as an inventor, an Edison-like figure, but he wasn't. I did a documentary on James Brown recently; and, oddly, I found a lot in common between Jobs and Brown. Jobs was also a fantastic performer, put on an extraordinary live show at his product launches, but he could also be ruthless, cruel and totally self-aggrandizing. And just as Brown surrounded himself with the very best musicians, Jobs understood the importance of hiring the absolutely most talented people and knew how crucial they were to the success of what he was trying to do.
Alex Gibney