Pierre Omidyar quotes on kind

I just kind of had this naive approach to-well, gee, you know, why not. I’ll just go ahead and do it. -Pierre Omidyar

I have always been of the opinion that the right kind of journalism is a critical part of our democracy. -Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Omidyar quotes on people

If you can get over this initial distrust that people have of strangers, you can do remarkable things. -Pierre Omidyar

An honest, open environment can bring out the best in people. -Pierre Omidyar

If you give people the opportunity to do the right thing, you’ll rarely be disappointed. -Pierre Omidyar

In the early days of eBay, I articulated for the very first time this belief that people are basically good. -Pierre Omidyar

We believe people are basically good. We believe everyone has something to contribute. We encourage you to treat others the way that you want to be treated. -Pierre Omidyar

As a philanthropist, I try to help people take ownership. Everything I’ve done is rooted in the notion that every human being is born equally capable. What people lack is equal opportunity. -Pierre Omidyar

We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger numbers of people. -Pierre Omidyar

I do like to fly under the radar. When I walk around town, the only people I want to recognise me and call me by my name are the folks at Starbucks. -Pierre Omidyar

One of the things I tend to do is open myself up to a variety of voices. I try to expose myself to the kind of culture shock that occurs when you talk to people who speak a different language. -Pierre Omidyar

Long-term sustainable change happens if people discover their own power. -Pierre Omidyar

Microloans enable the poor to lift themselves out of poverty through entrepreneurship. -Pierre Omidyar

In the same way that you’re driven in your business to keep innovating-Facebook is a wonderful example of constant innovation-think about doing that in philanthropy. -Pierre Omidyar

We ought to be looking at business as a force for good. -Pierre Omidyar

When you have mass surveillance, it’s impossible to meet the intent of the First Amendment because reporters can’t talk to sources because sources are afraid to talk. -Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Omidyar quotes on success

Ebay’s success as a company depends on the success of the community of sellers. -Pierre Omidyar

What we say here every day is that our success is really based on our members’ success, our community’s success. We’ve created an infrastructure and laid some basic ground rules to create this marketplace. -Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Omidyar quotes on system

I built a system simple enough to sustain itself. -Pierre Omidyar

By building a simple system, with just a few guiding principles, eBay was open to organic growth. -Pierre Omidyar

More from Pierre omidyar

Build a platform-prepare for the unexpected…you’ ll know you’re successful when the platform you’ve built serves you in unexpected ways. -Pierre Omidyar

I never had it in mind that I would start a company one day and it would really be successful. I have just been motivated by working on interesting technology -Pierre Omidyar

Everyone is born equally capable but lacks equal opportunity. -Pierre Omidyar

I’m a technologist by origin and by training, but I’m focused on philanthropy. -Pierre Omidyar

I was just pursuing what I enjoyed doing. I mean, I was pursuing my passion. -Pierre Omidyar

I’ve got a passion for solving a problem that I think I can solve in a new way. And that maybe it helps that nobody has done it before as well. -Pierre Omidyar

I had always been interested in markets-specifically, the theory that in financial markets, goods will trade at a fair value only when everyone has access to the same information. -Pierre Omidyar

You have to really believe in what you’re doing, be passionate enough about it so that you will put in the hours and hard work that it takes to actually succeed there, and then you’ll be successful. -Pierre Omidyar

You’re able to accomplish anything you set out to accomplish. -Pierre Omidyar

When you don’t know what to expect, prepare for the unexpected. -Pierre Omidyar

You should pursue your passion. If you’re passionate about something and you work hard, then I think you will be successful. -Pierre Omidyar

To truly prepare for the unexpected, you’ve got to position yourself to keep a couple of options open so when the door of opportunity opens, you’re close enough to squeeze through. -Pierre Omidyar