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. – Thomas Friedman
I basically did all the library research for this book on Google, and it not only saved me enormous amounts of time but actually gave me a much richer offering of research in a shorter time. – Thomas Friedman
Netscape brought the Internet alive with the browser. They made the Internet so that Grandma could use it, and her grandchildren could use it. The second thing that Netscape did was commercialize a set of open transmission protocols so that no company could own the Net. – Thomas Friedman
When you go along in life and develop whatever notoriety you do, people begin to relate to you differently, and I’m just always most comfortable with the people I grew up with. – Thomas Friedman
Google attracts so much talent, it can afford to look beyond traditional metrics, like G.P.A. For most young people, though, going to college and doing well is still the best way to master the tools needed for many careers. – Thomas Friedman
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. – Thomas Friedman
My mom enlisted in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and my parents actually bought our home thanks to the loan she got through the GI Bill. – Thomas Friedman
America still has the right stuff to thrive. We still have the most creative, diverse, innovative culture and open society – in a world where the ability to imagine and generate new ideas with speed and to implement them through global collaboration is the most important competitive advantage. – Thomas Friedman
There is nothing more valuable than great classroom instruction. But let’s stop putting the whole burden on teachers. We also need better parents. Better parents can make every teacher more effective. – Thomas Friedman
Many authors hate to go on grinding book tours. But I’ve always found it a useful way to be a foreign correspondent in America and take the pulse of the country. – Thomas Friedman
I am hoping, though, that many of them have kids, who, when they have a moment to take a break from their iPods, Internet, or Google, will explain to their parents running the country just how the world is being flattened. – Thomas Friedman
Many jobs at Google require math, computing, and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can apply, it would be an advantage. But Google has its eyes on much more. – Thomas Friedman
A golf course should aspire to generate as much energy as it consumes – golf should be leading the way toward energy net zero. – Thomas Friedman
You take one bomber and deploy him in Baghdad, and another is manufactured in Riyadh the next day. It’s exactly like when you take the toy off the shelf at Wal-Mart and another is made in Shen Zhen the next day. – Thomas Friedman
If the Republican Party continues to take the view that there must be no tax increases, we’re stuck. Capitalism can’t work without safety nets or fiscal prudence, and we need both in a sustainable balance. – Thomas Friedman
Natural gas emits only half the carbon dioxide of coal when burned, but if methane leaks when oil companies extract it from the ground in a sloppy manner – methane is far more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide – it can wipe out all the advantages of natural gas over coal. – Thomas Friedman
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. – Thomas Friedman
What is al Qaeda? It’s an open source religious political movement that works off the global supply chain. – Thomas Friedman
I can see a day soon where you’ll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world – some computing from Stanford, some entrepreneurship from Wharton, some ethics from Brandeis, some literature from Edinburgh – paying only the nominal fee for the certificates of completion. – Thomas Friedman
Optimists are usually wrong. But all the great change in history, positive change, was done by optimists. – Thomas Friedman
I said that more people in more places can now compete, connect and collaborate with equal power and equal tools than ever before. – Thomas Friedman
There’s nothing like living a little close to the edge that gets you motivated to ensure that you get the credentials you need to succeed. – Thomas Friedman
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. – Thomas Friedman
