Thomas Friedman's Quotes

Several technological and political forces have converged, and that has produced a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography or distance - or soon, even language.

Sometimes, when my wife and I were going out to dinner, I would take my laptop with me and work in the car, so as to take advantage of the half hour going and coming.

Supply chains cannot tolerate even 24 hours of disruption. So if you lose your place in the supply chain because of wild behavior you could lose a lot. It would be like pouring cement down one of your oil wells.

The country that owns green, that dominates that industry, is going to have the most energy security, national security, economic security, competitive companies, healthy population and, most of all, global respect.

The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention argues that no two countries that are both part of the same global supply chain will ever fight a war as long as they are each part of that supply chain.

Two things are going on at the same time with the flattening of the world: The relentless quest for efficiency is squeezing some of the fat out of life.

We need better neighbors, neighbors that care about the schools in their neighborhood whether they have kids in them or not, because they know that the health and vitality of that neighborhood depends on it.

We've gone from thinking the fuels that powered our growth were inexpensive, inexhaustible and benign to understanding they are exhaustible, expensive and toxic. Once you frame the problem that way, people will look at solutions differently.

When I was growing up, my parents told me, 'Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.' I tell my daughters, 'Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job.'

I was in Bangalore, India, the Silicon Valley of India, when I realized that the world was flat.

I love America. I think it's the best country in the world. But I also think we're not tending to our sauce.

I firmly believe that the next great breakthrough in bioscience could come from a 15-year-old who downloads the human genome in Egypt.

Rock stars get room keys, I get business cards.

The historical debate is over. The answer is free-market capitalism.

Yes, the world is now flat for publishing as well.

I have a daughter who is a sophomore in college and another who is in the 11th grade of high school.

If you don't visit the bad neighborhoods, the bad neighborhoods are going to visit you.

No, most of our political elite has not realized that the world is flat.

Rock stars get room keys, I get business cards. Wherever I go I meet innovators of wind power equipment, solar energy operators.

The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist.

Basically all the world's computer parts come from the same supply chain that runs from Korea, down through coastal China, over to Taiwan, and down to Malaysia.

I'm a capitalist. I believe in capitalism. But capitalism only works if you have safety nets to deal with people who are naturally left behind and brutalized by it.

If you followed this economic crisis and you do not think that the world is getting flatter, you are not paying attention. We saw the entire global economy at one time acting totally in sync. The real truth is the world is even flatter than I thought. Our mortgage crisis is killing Deutsche Bank. You still don't think the world is flat?

A golf course should aspire to generate as much energy as it consumes - golf should be leading the way toward energy net zero.

America needs rebooting.

Do you know what my favorite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation.

Every golf course should have its carbon rating on the scorecard, alongside its Course Rating, Slope, par and yardage.

Every sport needs its temple, its cathedral.

I attended public school with the same group of kids from K through 12.

I said that more people in more places can now compete, connect and collaborate with equal power and equal tools than ever before.

I'm from Minnesota. I'm optimistic. I mean, that's just who I am.

If you don't have an ethic of conservation, you basically have a license to drive a Hummer through the Amazon.

McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the designer of the F-15.