When you read good, coherent actions, you think, “This is going to be uncomfortable, but I think it can work.” When you read bad ones, you think, “Ah, we got afraid of the consequences, and we aren’t really changing anything.”

— Will Larson, An Elegant Puzzle

…belief is easier than disbelief; we believe instinctively, but disbelief requires a conscious effort.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, Map and Territory

“[The common definition of estimate is] ‘An estimate is the most optimistic prediction that has a non-zero probability of coming true.’ “Accepting this definition leads irrevocably toward a method called what’s-the-earliest-date-by-which-you-can’t-prove-you-won’t-be-finished estimating.”

— Steve McConnell, Rapid Development

What is the point of knowledge if it doesn’t help anyone or produce anything? … shift as much of your time and effort as possible from consuming to creating.

— Tiago Forte, Building a Second Brain

I am inclined to see philosophy as arising from a basic aspect of our nature, a thought-drive we possess, the cognitive equivalent to the libido. This thought-drive, call it the epinoia (epino-ah), is an irreducible instinct within us to question, wonder, challenge, probe, explode, shake, shatter, rattle, prod, flip, whip, stretch… in a word, think. Whereas the libido seeks satisfaction, the epinoia, tireless and indefatigable, seeks the endless flight of thought. It never settles. It craves problems, seeks perplexities, and shows no interest in sound conclusions or tidy answers.

— David Birch, Pandora’s Book