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Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle. Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

When Covid hit, the world itself became unstable, causing lost lives to lost jobs, and here the environment might force you to choose the behaviour of courage. – Ashish Goel, ‘Drawing on Courage’

In the post-pandemic world, people insist on working for leaders who focus on their employees’ well-being. – Bill George and Zach Clayton, ‘True North’

For her leadership during the Ukraine war and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ursula von der Leyen sits atop the 19th annual Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. – Forbes magazine

People shopped more when they were cooped up at home, but now that normal life has resumed, sales have slowed down. – Sarthika Singha, GoGo On The Go

We are currently witnessing a surge in credit applications from the microenterprise sector as businesses are being rebuilt post the disruptions caused by the pandemic. – Sanjay Sharma, Aye Finance

Demand is picking up across all key business cities, which confirms that the recovery is broad-based. – Kavikrut, OYO

Since the pandemic, we have witnessed significant growth in interest for the co-living sector. – Elias Kawar, Eagle Investments

Our growth skyrocketed post-COVID-19. We went from four to five buildings to signing up 25 buildings (with 2,400 beds) in Bengaluru. We started expanding to Goa and are now eyeing Hyderabad and Mumbai. – Kahraman Yigit, Olive by Embassy

The occupancy rate currently is the highest in the industry—95% of Housr rooms are booked. We expanded 6X in adding new accommodations during the COVID-19 period. – Deepak Anand, Settl

Edtech’s massive growth during COVID changed the whole learning ecosystem. – Dhilip Kumar, BYJU’S

When COVID broke out, the campus was shut and all professors and students were quarantined. We were asked if we could offer our two-year programme for free as coursework needed to keep going. – Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera

I’m proud of what I started during the pandemic. People don’t know me by name now, they call me GoGo. I feel good that I was able to create a small label. – Sarthika Singha, GoGo On The Go

Post-pandemic, we were stuck with inventory – I was looking to fill a gap, and that’s when I looked at retail. – Barath Akkihebbal, ShoprSmart

It has been a very tough journey for the art fraternity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as showcasing art and inviting large gatherings were restricted. – Rajendra, India Art Festival

I started learning art during the pandemic. That was the time when art work gave me positivity. – Samapika Satapathy, Aakriti Art Goup

Financially, the pandemic restricted my work orders for art, and I am still trying to cope with it. – Manjunath Honnapura, Beyond Forms and Plain

I actually did a lot of artwork during the pandemic and it was my meditative zone with everything that was going around. I found peace in my artwork, I guess one does their best in such a situation. – Akshata Shetty, India Art Festival

The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the urgency of accelerating digital transformation at Dabur. – Dabur report

Having a physical distance and communicating via a sheet of glass has allowed my own leadership style to develop and mature, to communicate more effectively and delegate and trust more. – Ajay Jain, Tata Motors

Both before and after the pandemic, HR Tech has been a key enabler in assisting firms in adjusting to the ‘new normal’. – Gireesh Rowjee, greytHR

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).