Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.

I used to be opposed to the idea of social entrepreneurship. I said, you know, let business be business, and philanthropy be philanthropy. Keep the two separate, don't mix it up, and this is what I did, and I did that rather successfully, but I now recognize that actually you do need to mix it up and I think there is room for social entrepreneurship.

If I had to sum up my practical skills, I would use one word: survival. And operating a hedge fund utilized my training in survival to the fullest.

The assumption of perfect knowledge is very far from reality ... a lot of the evil in the world is actually not intentional.

Giving government aid to a bank basically transforms it into a utility. The huge salaries in this sector are only a symptom of a more profound misalignment. The profitability of the finance industry has been excessive. [...] That was absurd.

Sometimes time actually works against you if you refuse to face the relevant issues and explain to the public what is at stake.

Most of the poverty and misery in the world is due to bad government, lack of democracy, weak states, internal strife, and so on.