Several climate activists have lamented that by writing and starring in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore may have done the movement more harm than good, because as a former Democratic vice-president and presidential nominee he stamped climate change with a left-wing seal.

— Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now

There is no neutral algorithm for theory-choice, no systematic decision procedure which, properly applied, must lead each individual in the group to the same decision.

— Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Intrinsically, there’s nothing small about the ethical problem with slaughtering thousands of innocent first-born male children to convince an unelected Pharaoh to release slaves who logically could have been teleported out of the country.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, Map and Territory

To resolve a dissonance, one factor or another contributing to it must be made to yield. Which factor depends on the situation, but, generally speaking, it will not be the person’s self-image. That manages to be preserved through the most miraculous arguments.

— Gerald Weinberg, The Psychology of Computer Programming

Elysium is a myth. One does not overcome an obstacle to enter the land of no obstacles.

— Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way