You could argue the banks are much better capitalised than they were going into the crisis, and everyone's in a much more vigilant state because they still remember the crisis.

Baseball is this intense subculture that actually doesn't speak very much for the larger culture.

The pleasure of rooting for Goliath is that you can expect to win. The pleasure of rooting for David is that, while you don’t know what to expect, you stand at least a chance of being inspired.

As idiotic as optimism can sometimes seem, it has a weird habit of paying off.

When you're trying to create a career as a writer, a little delusional thinking goes a long way.

In Japan, mothers insist on achievement and accomplishment as a sign of love and respect. Thus to fail places children in a highly shamed situation.

A banking system is an act of faith: it survives only for as long as people believe it will.

Above all, recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck — and with luck comes obligation. You owe a debt, and not just to your Gods. You owe a debt to the unlucky.

A credit default swap was confusing mainly because it wasn't really a swap at all. It was an insurance policy, typically on a corporate bond, with semiannual premium payments and a fixed term.

One absolutely cannot tell, by watching, the difference between a .300 hitter and a .275 hitter. The difference is one hit every two weeks.

People don't like uncertainty, and their minds are tools for making sense of the world, even when the world is senseless.

Maturity is when you stop complaining and making excuses and start making changes.

task not unlike coming to grips with the Holy Ghost.' There

A novel is written not to be judged, but experienced.

Don't vote, it only encourages them.

It's really fun to act like a bimbo. But it's fun to act like a bimbo only when people know that you really aren't one.

To make an activity joyful, keep adding things until the activity as a whole becomes more appealing than repulsing.

I know people who believe in ghosts but don't believe in themselves.

As long as you feel like a victim, you are one.

The only way that we may overcome the world is by coming unto Christ. And coming to Christ means walking away from the world.

Bad terminology is the enemy of good thinking.