By 2008 the world’s population, all 6.7 billion of them, had an average income equivalent to that of Western Europe in 1964. And no, it’s not just because the rich are getting even richer (though of course they are, a topic we will examine in the next chapter). Extreme poverty is being eradicated, and the world is becoming middle class.

— Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now

There were three main new schools of thought: the Epicureans, the Stoics and the Sceptics. On the whole, if an Epicurean said one thing, a Stoic would say the opposite and a Sceptic would refuse to commit himself either way.

— Anthony Gottlieb, The Dream of Reason

Psychological wisdom, after all, is an elusive thing—it cannot be learned secondhand or simply acquired through gradual practice. It must be attained in a subtle, roundabout way, through personal insight from lived experience.

— Roman Gelperin, On Rotting Prison Straw

The more I love humanity in general the less I love man in particular. In my dreams, I often make plans for the service of humanity, and perhaps I might actually face crucifixion if it were suddenly necessary. Yet I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone for two days together. I know from experience. As soon as anyone is near me, his personality disturbs me and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I begin to hate the best of men: one because he’s too long over his dinner, another because he has a cold and keeps on blowing his nose. I become hostile to people the moment they come close to me. But it has always happened that the more I hate men individually the more I love humanity.

— Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

The first word in software is soft. Software is supposed to be SOFT. It’s supposed to be easy to change. If we didn’t want it to be easy to change, we’d have called it hardware.

— Robert C. Martin, Clean Craftsmanship