korrents
Pavel Durov

Pavel Durov

@pavel-durov · 24 positions · 0 changes of mind

Founder of Telegram, and before it of VK.

Pavel Durov did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

  1. Our reading

    The biggest enemies of freedom are fear and greed; make peace with the worst that can happen and there is nothing left to be afraid of.

    Their wordsWell, the biggest enemies of freedom are fear and greed, so you make sure that they don't stand in your way. If you imagine the worst thing that can happen to you and then make yourself be comfortable with it, there is nothing more left to be afraid of.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:04:29 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 1st of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    He does not drink, because alcohol damages the one tool you most need for success and happiness, and trading that for short-term pleasure is ridiculous.

    Their wordsSo think about this. If your brain is this most valuable tool you have in your journey to success and happiness, why would you destroy this tool for short-term pleasure? This sounds ridiculous.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:06:57 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 2nd of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  5. Our reading

    Curate your own information sources, or an algorithmic feed decides what is important and you end up consuming the same memes and news as everyone else.

    Their wordsSo it's extremely important to curate the information sources that you have, so that you wouldn't be somebody who is left to the will of AI-based algorithmic feed telling you what's important so that you end up consuming the same information, the same stuff, the same memes, the same news as everybody else.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:12:13 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 3rd of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    A phone is not a necessary device; set your own agenda and the phone only gets in the way.

    Their wordsI don't think a phone is a necessary device. I remember growing up, I didn't have a mobile phone. When I was a student at the university, I didn't have a mobile phone. When I finally got to use a mobile phone, I never used phone calls.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:14:40 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 4th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  9. Our reading

    The more connected and accessible you are, the less productive you are, and that is the conclusion of someone who founded a social network and a messaging app.

    Their wordsAnd you're supposed to be really connected, but the conclusion you reach very early is that the more connected and accessible you are, the less productive you are.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:18:02 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 5th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  11. Our reading

    The one muscle worth training is self-discipline; once that is trained, everything else follows by itself.

    Their wordsI think the main muscle you can exercise is this muscle, the muscle of self-discipline. Not your biceps or your pecs or anything else. Because if you get to train that one, everything else just comes by itself.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:24:07 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 6th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  13. Our reading

    We overuse pills: a painkiller mutes the signal without removing the cause, and the makers are not incentivised to remove it.

    Their wordsNo, I'm not saying that you should never take pills. There are obviously some diseases that you can only fight with antibiotics, for example. So, I'm not suggesting we go back to the Middle Ages, but what I'm saying is we overuse pills.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:35:53 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 7th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  15. Our reading

    Ask who benefits from you reading a piece of news, and you conclude that perhaps 95 percent of it was published to get you to buy, support, fight or donate.

    Their wordsThis is something I practice every day. I read some piece of news and I ask myself, "Who benefits from me reading this?" Then you can end up coming to this conclusion that maybe 95% of things we read in the news have been written and published because somebody wanted you to buy some product, support some political cause, fight some war, donate some money.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:37:19 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 8th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  17. Our reading

    Headcount does not translate into product quality, and often the opposite: too many people spend their time coordinating, and the idle ones demotivate the rest.

    Their wordsWell, what we realized really early is that quantity of employees doesn't translate the quality of the product they produce. In many cases, it's the opposite. If you have too many people, they have to coordinate their efforts, constantly communicate, and 90% of their time will be spent on coordinating the small pieces of work they're responsible for between each other.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:42:10 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 9th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  19. Our reading

    Telegram has never shared a single private message with anyone, governments and intelligence services included.

    Their wordsNo, never. Telegram has never shared a single private message with anyone, including governments and intelligence services. If you try to access any server in any of the data center locations, it's all encrypted.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:47:38 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 10th of 24 in this recording

    data centers

    Interesting

  21. Our reading

    Telegram would rather shut down in a country than change its system to let anyone read users' messages, because it promised its users it would not.

    Their wordsNo. We designed a system in a way that's impossible. It'll require us to change the system and we won't do that because we made a promise to our users. We would rather shut Telegram down in a certain country than do that.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:48:39 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 11th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  23. Our reading

    The right to privacy is fundamental; without it people cannot feel fully free and protected.

    Their wordsI think it's fundamental. Without the right to privacy, people can't feel fully free and protected.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:49:03 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 12th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  25. Our reading

    Government is people with goals, so it grows by nature; there must be very strict limits on how far it can expand its power at the expense of citizens.

    Their wordsThat's how you end up in an endless loop of ever-increasing taxes, ever-increasing regulation, which ultimately suffocates free market, free enterprise, and free speech. So, you do want to have very, very strict limitations on the extent the government can increase its powers at the expense of citizens.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 0:55:29 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 13th of 24 in this recording

    government

    Interesting

  27. Our reading

    The French investigation of him should never have been started; a criminal case is the wrong tool for regulating social media.

    Their wordsThe investigation itself should have never been started. It's an absurd and harmful way of solving an issue such as complicated as regulating social media. It is just the wrong tool.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 1:05:01 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 14th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  29. Our reading

    He would rather lose everything than yield to government pressure to block channels, because submitting to something fundamentally wrong breaks a person inside.

    Their wordsAnd I would rather lose everything I have than yield to this pressure because, if you submit to this pressure and agree with something that is fundamentally wrong and violates rights of other people as well, you become broken inside, you become a shell of your former self on a deep biological and spiritual level.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 1:10:42 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 15th of 24 in this recording

    government

    Interesting

  31. Our reading

    Europe must decide how big it wants its public sector to be: France's public spending at 58 percent of GDP is above the late Soviet Union's.

    Their wordsBecause today, if you take France for example which is a beautiful country with a lot of talented people, but public expenses are 58% of the country's GDP, it's maybe as much more than in the latest stage of the Soviet Union.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 1:25:20 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 16th of 24 in this recording

    Europe

    Interesting

  33. Our reading

    Maths is essential schooling: it trains you to split big problems into small ones and to think for yourself, the same skill programming, project management and founding a company need.

    Their wordsYeah. I still think math is essential. It's something that shapes your brain, it teaches you to rely on your logical thinking to split big problems into smaller parts, put them in the right sequence, solve them patiently, trying again if it doesn't work.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 1:39:39 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 17th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  35. Our reading

    The best way to hire engineers is a coding contest, because competition leads to progress and picks the most qualified people for the task.

    Their wordsWell, it's in line with my overall philosophy. I think competition leads to progress. If you want to create an ideal process for selecting the most qualified people for certain specific tasks you have in mind, what can be better than a competition?
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 2:16:40 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 18th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  37. Our reading

    Telegram's Secret Chats are the most secure means of communication today.

    Their wordsAt the same time, if you were really paranoid, you think, I don't want to be screenshotted, I don't want to have any leaks, I don't even trust Telegram, I only trust code. Secret Chats are the best option. I believe is the most secure means of communication today.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 2:43:04 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 19th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  39. Our reading

    An app's encryption claims can only be verified with open source and reproducible builds, which WhatsApp has never offered.

    Their wordsYou need reproducible builds in order to verify that the app really does what it claims, really encrypts data in a way that it is described on its website. For that you need to make your apps open source for any researchers to have a look at it.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 2:44:49 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 20th of 24 in this recording

    open source

    Interesting

  41. Our reading

    There is no such thing as an unbiased source of information; understanding the world means reading conflicting sources that hate each other.

    Their wordsBecause there's no such thing as an unbiased source of information. When the war in Ukraine started in 2022, I instantly realized Telegram is going to be used to spread propaganda by both sides.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 3:26:14 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 21st of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  43. Our reading

    Telegram leaves perhaps 80 percent of its potential revenue on the table by refusing to exploit personal data for advertising.

    Their wordsSo premium is one source of our revenue. We also have ads, but they're context-based, not targeted. Of course, we leave probably 80% of value on the table because we're not ready to engage in all this practices, exploiting personal data.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 3:40:32 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 22nd of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  45. Our reading

    When politicians or executives offer a choice between two bad options, refuse the frame: reframe the question instead of accepting responsibility for either.

    Their wordsI believe this is the right answer. We're often being manipulated by politicians, by corporate leaders to make a choice from two suboptimal options. And then when we are forced to make this choice and we make this choice, it's almost as if it's something that we have to assume responsibility for. I don't think we should be buying into that.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 3:59:43 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 23rd of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  47. Our reading

    Overabundance paralyses motivation and willpower, which is why his wealth will be split among more than a hundred heirs and only reach them as adults.

    Their wordsYeah, I think overabundance paralyzes motivation and willpower. It's extremely harmful, particularly for young boys, to grow up in an environment where they can be proud, not of their own achievements, but of their father's achievements or their father's wealth.
    spoken · official transcript hear it at 4:07:24 · all korrents from this recording

    ↗Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature | Lex Fridman Podcast #482youtube.com 24th of 24 in this recording

    Interesting