There are quite a lot of people who think my aspirations are not possible. That's a good thing. We don't need to really worry about these people very much, because since they don't think it's possible they won't take us very seriously- and they will not actually try to stop us until it's too late.

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

We need more pessimism that the future might be a lot worse, and we need more optimism that the future might be better.

Every university…seem[s] to reassure you that ‘it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it well.’ That is completely false. It does matter what you do. You should focus relentlessly at something you’re good at doing, but before that you must think hard about whether it will be valuable in the future.

Superior sales and distribution by itself can create a monopoly, even with no product differentiation. The converse is not true. No matter how strong your product-even if it easily fits into already established habits and anybody who tries it likes it immediately-you must still support it with a strong distribution plan.

Technology and capitalism are very much linked. I think that capitalism probably works best in a technologically progressing society.

In a world of scarce resources, globalization without new technology is unsustainable.