Aside from the equivalent of blowing up the lab or letting a pathogen escape, the only failure is spending too long or too much money to learn.
Take on jobs, projects and challenges that frighten you. It's the best way to get rid of fear.
As a young woman working in journalism, I assumed harassment and discrimination came with the territory and that you just had to get on with the job. As I rose to senior positions, it took me awhile to realise that just because I'd survived relatively unscathed didn't mean the younger women joining the profession would do so, and it isn't until you hit a certain age that the reality of ageism - which is much more acute for women - kicks in.
The system isn't working for most people and never has worked for most women.
We are all impacted by the failings of a news media that almost always chooses which stories to cover according to the priorities and perspectives of white men with private educations.
Writing a book is like running a marathon. You need to be fit to do it, mentally and, as far as possible, physically.
What drives me is a sense of urgency. We live in frightening times. Progress towards gender equality and vital battles to end discrimination on grounds such as race, age, sexuality and disability are stalling and in some places, reversing. This is happening because of the collapse of trust in nearly all public institutions, and in particular in politics and media, and the inescapable feeling that the current system isn't working for most people.
I think the kind of unexpected I really love is when you open books and the actual way of writing is different and interesting. Like reading Virginia Woolf for the first time or Lawrence Durrell for the first time.
Art has no purpose. It exists for its own sake.
ObamaCare is a complete disaster.
I want a government small enough to fit inside the Constitution.