It is because of a deep underlying anxiety, a root-level painful insecurity, that people engage in zero-sum competition and hate the people who succeed.

— Martha Nussbaum, The Monarchy of Fear

The idea that religion is a separate magisterium that cannot be proven or disproven is a Big Lie—a lie which is repeated over and over again, so that people will say it without thinking; yet which is, on critical examination, simply false.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, Map and Territory

This sort of thing sometimes causes people undue distress, as in the recent MIT Technology Review cover, featuring moonwalker Buzz Aldrin with the headline “YOU PROMISED ME MARS COLONIES. INSTEAD I GOT FACEBOOK.” But, in fairness, a Mars colony would cost a few trillion dollars, while Facebook is free. And, it’s worth noting that the choice of Facebook is a bit crafty. Imagine if they’d picked Wikipedia: “YOU PROMISED ME MARS COLONIES, AND ALL I GOT WAS ALL OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE INDEXED AND AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE ON EARTH FOR FREE.

— Kelly Weinersmith, Soonish

Great software, likewise, requires a fanatical devotion to beauty.

— Paul Graham, Hackers & Painters

My emphasis on language also comes from a deep conviction that language shapes our thoughts. You cannot answer a question that you cannot ask, and you cannot ask a question that you have no words for.

— Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie, The Book of Why