Odd as it may seem, I am my remembering self, and the experiencing self, who does my living, is like a stranger to me.

The idea that the future is unpredictable is undermined every day by the ease with which the past is explained.

The world makes much less sense than you think. The coherence comes mostly from the way your mind works.

The premise of this book is that it is easier to recognize other people's mistakes than our own.

The test of learning psychology is whether your understanding of situations you encounter has changed, not whether you have learned a new fact.

Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking about it.

Many parents have discovered, perhaps with some guilt, that they can read a story to a child while thinking of something else.

Freedom has a cost, which is borne by individuals who make bad choices, and by a society that feels obligated to help them.

Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking of it.

The often-used phrase “pay attention” is apt: you dispose of a limited budget of attention that you can allocate to activities, and if you try to you try to go beyond your budget, you will fail.

However, attention can be moved away from an unwanted focus, primarily by focusing intently on another target.

Innumerable victories are silently celebrated each day by those who maintain their courage.

A little credulity helps one on through life very smoothly.

He who loves God cannot endeavor that God should love him in return.

God is waiting to satisfy us, yet His goodness will not satisfy us if we are already full of other things.

No piecemeal solution is going to prevent the collapse of whole societies and ecosystems ... a radical re-thinking of our values, priorities and political systems is urgent.

There will be losing years; but if the art of making money is not to lose it, then there should not be substantial losses.

Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization.

You cannot know a man's life before the man has died, then only can you call it good or bad.

A free press is not a privilege but an organic necessity in a great society. ... A great society is simply a big and complicated urban society.