ISTP

Miyamoto Musashi

Samurai and author of 'The Book of Five Rings'

Musashi: "If you make your opponent flinch, you have already won."

Musashi: "I dislike preconceived thought."

Musashi: "You win battles [by] using a timing which the enemy does not expect."

Musashi: "When you [know] the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and strike naturally."

Musashi: "Really skillful people ... never appear busy."

ISTP

Erwin Rommel

World War II general

Rommel: "Strike at once. You cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles."

Rommel: "Mortal danger is an effective antidote to fixed ideas."

Rommel: "Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains save both."

Churchill: "[Rommel] was a splendid military gambler ... scornful of opposition ... and may I say, across the havoc of war, a great general."

ISTP

Steve Jobs

Founder of Apple along with Steve Wozniak

Jobs: "One of my mantras - focus and simplicity."

Jobs: "I say when something sucks rather than sugarcoat it."

Guy Kawasaki: "If you're a Steve fan, you say: 'He knew how to cut through all the bullshit.' If you're not a Steve fan, [you say]: 'He lacked social graces.'"

Emily Brower Auchard: "Jobs was a 'noticer' who picked up on the smallest detail."

ISTP

Jack Dorsey

Founder of Twitter

Dorsey: "Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected."

Dorsey: "Making something simple is very difficult."

Vanity Fair: "The minimalism of Twitter - each tweet can be no longer than 140 characters - reflects Dorsey's own terseness."

Ashton Kutcher: "What makes Jack magic is his precision. When he speaks he makes every syllable count."

Wired Magazine: "Dorsey boasts a Steve Jobs-like obsession with design and detail."

ISTP

Diogenes the Dog

Greek philosopher

Diogenes: "I saw a woman praying in front of an alter with her ass in the air and said to her: 'Look out; Zeus is behind you, too.'"

Diogenes: "Other dogs bite only their enemies, whereas I bite also my friends."

Diogenes: "No one can live with me as a companion: it would be too inconvenient."

Diogenes: "Of what use is a philosopher who doesn't hurt anybody's feelings?"

[Alexander: "I am Alexander the King."]
Diogenes: "I am Diogenes the Dog."
[Alexander: "Ask me any boon you like."]
Diogenes: "Step out of my sunlight."

Alexander: "If I were not Alexander, the great king, I would be Diogenes."

Plato: "He is a Socrates gone mad."

ISTP

Dalai Lama XIV

Head of Tibetan Buddhism

Dalai Lama: "As a child I liked to disassemble things; radios, clocks, and the like. I took them apart to see how they worked."

Dalai Lama: "When you look for a teacher you should be very, very suspicious. ... You must test them."

Dalai Lama: "By learning from science ... I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview."

Dalai Lama: "Mao was like a father to me."

Richard H. Jones: "The Dalai Lama [has a lot of] enthusiasm for science."

Desmond Tutu: "He has a childlike, boyish, impish mischievousness. And I have to try and make him behave properly, like a holy man!"

ISTP

Donald Rumsfeld

U.S. Secretary of Defense (R)

Rumsfeld: "I don't do diplomacy."

Rumsfeld: "The best strategists [are] agile enough to adjust course if and when new and surprising information requires it."

Rumsfeld: "Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing; certainty with power can be dangerous."

[On his secretary calling him a son of a bitch:]
Rumsfeld: "She had a point."

ISTP

Miles Davis

Jazz musician

Davis: "I ain't scared of nothing or nobody."

Davis: "I ain't going around trying to be tough. ... I just say what I think, and that bugs people."

Davis: "When [people] look in my eyes [they] see no fear."

Davis: "I have nothing to say that's bullshit. So when I hear bullshit, I can detect it. ... [And that's why] I can't be on none of those television shows."

Davis: "I get sick of how a lot of [people] write whole columns and pages of big words and still ain't saying nothing."

Rolling Stone: "He can be blunt and honest where others [would be] more diplomatic. ... [He has a] brutal frankness."

ISTP

Frank Zappa

Singer-songwriter

Zappa: "The most important thing to do in your life is to not interfere with somebody else's life."

[Arguing against censorship of swearing:]
Zappa: "I think if you use the so-called strong words you get your point across faster and you can save a lot of beating around the bush. Why are people afraid of words?"

Zappa: "A cigarette, to me, is food. Tobacco is my favorite vegetable."

Zappa: "[I knew a girl who said:] 'We're going to burn these buildings, we're going to bomb this, bomb that. ... I want to change things, I want to help America.' I suggested to the girl that she would be more effective in bed with an executive from a large company."

Joel Rose: "By all accounts, Frank Zappa was a perfectionist who liked to keep a tight grip on his business and his art."

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Stanley Kubrick

Filmmaker

Kubrick: "'Explaining' ... has no value except for critics and teachers who have to earn a living."

Kubrick: "The truth is that I've always felt trapped and pinned down and harried by [conceptualizing] questions. ... If the work is good, what you say about it is usually irrelevant."

Kubrick: "If you get involved in any kind of problem-solving in depth on almost anything, it's surprisingly similar to problem-solving anything else."

Kubrick: "[I learned photography] step by step by myself without anybody really helping me."

Bruce Mait: "Stanley Kubrick [has] been described as incredibly detailed, controlling, obsessive and focused exclusively on his work. [These are] phrases that [also] crop up frequently in stories about Steve Jobs."

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Clint Eastwood

Filmmaker and actor

Eastwood: "I felt the less [my character] said, the stronger he became and the more he grew."

Eastwood: "I don't pretend to understand losers. When I read a script about a loser I think ... they seem to want it that way."

Eastwood: "Leave everybody alone. Let everybody else do what they want. Just stay out of everybody else's hair."

Eastwood: "Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands."

Eastwood: "[I'm] bored of all the political correctness."

Eastwood: "Whether you like it or not, you're forced to come to the realization that death is out there. But I don't fear death."

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Simon Cowell

Judge on American Idol

Cowell: "I prefer to cut through the white lies and the bullshit."

Cowell: "I became 'the obnoxious one,' 'the opinionated one,' or 'the brutal one.' ... In my mind, I'm the honest one."

Cowell: "There's far too much decorum and protocol [in the world]. ... I can't see the point of that."

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Harrison Ford

Actor

Ford: "[I don't give] enough information so that [people] ... absolutely know who they're dealing with."

Ford: "I wanted to be a forest ranger. ... At a very early age, I knew I didn't want to do what my dad did, which was work in an office."

Ford: "I enjoyed carpentry, and it was very good to me for 12 years."

Ford: "I could take Sean Connery in a fight ... I could definitely take him."

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Tom Cruise

Actor, was married to Nicole Kidman, dated Penelope Cruz

Cruise: "Nothing ends nicely, that's why it ends. ... Talk is over-rated as a means of settling disputes."

Cruise: "I took a lot of chances in my life."

Rob Lowe: "[He] has an almost robotic, bloodless focus and an intensity that I've never encountered before. ... He's zeroed in like a laser." [Upon meeting Cruise in 1982.]

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Christian Bale

Actor

Bale: "If everyone really knew what a jerk I am in real life, I wouldn't be so adored in the slightest."

Bale: "[Whatever you want to do] - just do it! Don't talk about it, get on with it."

Bale: "I never want to feel that I'm playing it safe."

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Scarlett Johansson

Actress

Johansson: "I think my head's on pretty straight, and I'm pretty realistic about things."

Johansson: "I've never been the girl who thought of the big [wedding] dress, the big ceremony. I'm more low-key than that."

Woody Allen: "Scarlett is one of the few people who always tops me. Whenever I say something amusing, she always manages to say something quicker - and funnier - than what I've said."

ISTP

Ellen Page

Actress

Page: "As a kid I didn't know who actors were except maybe Julia Roberts or the dinosaurs in 'Jurassic Park'. They were great!"

Page: "I don't dream about my wedding at night. I'm not one of those people."

Page: "When we're growing up there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be."

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Kristen Stewart

Actress, dating Robert Pattinson

Stewart: "I feel like I have nothing to say on [talk] shows."

Stewart: "I'm really comfortable with dudes."

Stewart: "I have a bit of an authority issue."

Jodie Foster: "[Kristen] keeps it all wrapped up. Just the way she shows up ... and says hi and sticks her hands in her pockets. She's the cool girl on the block."

Ted Casablanca: "[Kristen] is a free spirit who is a risk taker [and] a bit of [a] daredevil."

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Jenna Jameson

Adult film actress

Jameson: "I am pretty hardcore - nothing scares me. I'm a guy's girl."

Jameson: "[Everyone] relying on everybody else's judgment is what makes this society so sick."

Jameson: "Scarlett Johansson reminds me of myself when I was young."

ISTP

Snoop Dogg

Rapper

Snoop Dogg: "I'm not scared of reality, and I'm going to bring it to you."

Snoop Dogg: "If it's flipping hamburgers at McDonald's, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever it is you do, you have to master your craft."

Snoop Dogg: "A lot of people like to fool you and say that you're not smart if you never went to college, but common sense rules over everything."

ISTP

Phil Ivey

'The Tiger Woods of poker'

Ivey: "I'm cold-hearted at the poker table. ... If we're playing poker I'm trying to bust you. It's just that simple."

Ivey: "I have patience when I need to have patience ... [and] I'm able to adjust."

ISTP

David Blaine

Magician and endurance artist

Blaine: "I love doing these stunts [because it's] an adrenaline rush - like a guy who rides big waves or jumps out of airplanes. [That's] what I'm looking for."

Blaine: "I think if I was afraid of death I wouldn't be able to live my life."

Blaine: "[I use] misdirection. ... [I] throw my opponents off [so they] overlook my possibilities, and [then] bam."

Blaine: "I [refuse] to use trick decks of cards or trick objects ... I do my card effects only with a straight deck."

ISTP

Steven Wright

Stand-up comedian

Wright: "[My movie is about someone who] is obsessed with ... questions like 'why are we here?' and 'what is the meaning of life?' and then right before he [dies] he realizes that he wasted his time thinking about this."

Wright: "I love talking about technology. There's so much stuff about that in my show."

ISTP

Bruce Lee

Actor and martial artist

Lee: "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."

Lee: "A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. ... When there is an opportunity, 'I' do not hit, 'it' hits all by itself."

Lee: "There is no other help but self-help."

ISTP

Woody Allen

Filmmaker

Allen: "I don't socialize with [my actors] or spend a lot of time talking or lavishing them with hugs and insincere kisses."

Allen: "I'm not an intellectual ... and I'm not a good actor."

Allen: "I'm ... not someone who's ensconced in Kierkegaard or Spinoza, but my [public] image is quite different because of [the roles] I play."

Penelope Cruz: "People ask Woody, 'Do you spend a lot of time with your actors?' In front of all of us he says, 'No - I try to avoid the cast. They come to me with all these strange questions that ... I don't want to answer.'"

Malcolm Johnson: "Woody Allen will never win any prizes for political correctness."

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Richard Stallman

Founder of the Free Software movement

Stallman: "Odious ideas are not entitled to hide from criticism behind the human shield of their believers' feelings."

Stallman: "I'm not glad Steve Jobs is dead, but I'm glad he's gone."

Stallman: "Steve Jobs figured out how to build computers that were prisons - jails for the user - and [he made] them stylish and chic. ... He convinced people to rush to the stores, saying, 'Put the handcuffs on me, please!'"

Stallman: "To have the choice between [commercial] software packages is being able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master."

ISTP

Hans-Ulrich Rudel

Highest-decorated German soldier of WWII

Rudel: "I am not afraid of death. I have often looked him in the eye for a matter of seconds and have never been the first to lower my gaze."

Rudel: "Practice makes perfect. Practical knowledge is the sole criterion of what is possible or impossible, good or bad."

Rudel: "[I] can make an aircraft do anything [I] like."

Ben Thompson: "Rudel [sunk] a battleship with a two-man aircraft, and he only needed one shot to do it."

ISTP

Chesley Sullenberger

Pilot who landed a plane in the Hudson

[On his reaction to double engine failure:]
Sullenberger: "I knew I had to solve this problem. I knew I had to find a way out of this box I found myself in."

[Katie Couric: "You had to keep your cool..."]
Sullenberger: "Right. The physiological reaction I had was strong, and I had to ... force calm on the situation."
[Couric: "Was that a hard thing to do?"]
Sullenberger: "No. It just took some concentration."

Sullenberger: "I was sure I could do it."

ISTP

Sally Ride

Astronaut

[Asked what she wants her legacy to be:]
Ride: "I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way."

[Interviewer: "When bright young students come to you seeking advice, what do you say to them?"]
Ride: "'Why are you talking to me?'"

ISTP

James Murdoch

CEO of the Murdoch news corporation, son of Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch: "What you don't want to do is ... blow [your resources] on something ... and then opportunities are going to come later that you never would have imagined were open to you."

[Interviewer: "So, James, tell me about karate."]
Murdoch: "It's a word."

[Former colleague:] "One of the things he likes about himself is the idea that he's a risk taker."

Charles Dunstone: "James is very single-minded and a very clear thinker. He's very driven on detail: he'll be involved in all the numbers of the business."

ISTP

Kyudo Nakagawa

Zen master

Nakagawa: "You must take care of yourself! Buddha doesn't care. God doesn't care. Belief doesn't count, only action helps!"

[Asked what he thought about the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima:]
Nakagawa: "It was a big barbecue."