Thomas L. Friedman is an American journalist and author. He is three time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and currently writes for the New York Times. With over a dozen books under his belt, Friedman focuses on the topics of foreign affairs, global trade, and environmental issues. Here is a look at some of the most renowned Thomas L. Friedman quotes every documented.
“Almost all the students who make it to Caltech, one of the best scientific universities in the world, come from public schools. So it can be done.”
“America is the greatest engine of innovation that has ever existed, and it can’t be duplicated anytime soon, because it is the product of a multitude of factors.”
“At the end of the day, no amount of investing, no amount of clean electrons, no amount of energy efficiency will save the natural world if we are not paying attention to it.”
“Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately needed.”
“Communism was a great system for making people equally poor – in fact, there was no better system in the world for that than communism. Capitalism made people unequally rich.”
“Culture is nested in context, not genes.”
"When he's on, it's riveting sometimes," says @tomfriedman of @realDonaldTrump "he's life imitating Twitter" #AWNewYork pic.twitter.com/3gWHLq3lC1
— Chris Ariens (@ChrisAriens) September 29, 2016
“Everything I’ve ever gotten in life is largely due to the fact that I was born in this country, America, at this time with these opportunities for its citizens. It is the primary obligation of our generation to turn over a similar America to our kids.”
“Goods are traded, but services are consumed and produced in the same place. And you cannot export a haircut. But we are coming close to exporting a haircut, the appointment part. ”
“I have come to know several social entrepreneurs in recent years, and most combine a business school brain with a social worker’s heart. ”
“In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears-and that is our problem.”
“In the hyperconnected world, there is only “good” “better” and “best.”
“It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running.”
“It has always been my view that terrorism is not spawned by the poverty of money; it is spawned by the poverty of dignity. Humiliation is the most underestimated force in international relations and in human relations.”
Keynote speaker @tomfriedman applauds #Canada for championing pluralism during #UNGA 2C / #ECOSOC joint meeting #diverssityisstrength pic.twitter.com/TZ9FNArIpF
— Canada Mission UN (@CanadaUN) October 7, 2016
“Just because we can’t sell shares in nature doesn’t mean it has no value.”
“Men grant and withdraw their love according to their whims, but fear is a hand that rests on their shoulders in a way they can never shake.”
“No matter what your profession – doctor, lawyer, architect, accountant – if you are an American, you better be good at the touchy-feely service stuff, because anything that can be digitized can be outsourced to either the smartest or the cheapest producer.”
“No policy is sustainable without a public that broadly understands why it’s necessary and sees the world the way you do.”
“No two countries that both had McDonald’s had fought a war against each other since each got its McDonald’s.”
“Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.”
“So what am I? I guess I would call myself a sober optimist…If you are not sober about the scale of the challenge, then you are not paying attention.”
Had a tremendous time meeting with @tomfriedman yesterday in his Washington office pic.twitter.com/V0yrRzL5ch
— Avi Hyman (@AviHyman) September 28, 2016
“The ideal country in a flat world is the one with no natural resources, because countries with no natural resources tend to dig inside themselves.”
“The poverty fighters resent the climate-change folks; climate folks hold summits without reference to biodiversity; the food advocates resist the biodiversity protectors.”
“To learn how to learn, you have to love learning—or you have to at least enjoy it—because so much learning is about being motivated to teach yourself.”
“When widely followed public figures feel free to say anything, without any fact-checking, it becomes impossible for a democracy to think intelligently about big issues.”
“When you study history and look at every civilization that has grown up and died off, they all leave one remnant: a major sports colosseum at the heart of their capital. Our fate can be different; but only if we start doing things differently.”
“You can be a rich person alone. You can be a smart person alone. But you cannot be a complete person alone.”
Here is an interview with Thomas L. Friendman as he discusses his bestselling book, ‘The World is Flat’ and talks about his next edition and new updates.
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