…the concept of an extended, dehumanising imprisonment holds greater terror than that of a quick, if brutal, release into the freedom of death through execution.

— Philip Stokes, Philosophy 100 Essential Thinkers

As long as we believe that there is a way the world should be (e.g. we should meet our quarterly targets) and a way the world shouldn’t be (e.g. milk shouldn’t be spilled), life won’t work according to our beliefs.

— Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Klemp, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership

To be humble is to take specific actions in anticipation of your own errors. To confess your fallibility and then do nothing about it is not humble; it is boasting of your modesty.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, How to Actually Change Your Mind

Universities ought to be the arena in which political prejudice is set aside and open-minded investigation reveals the way the world works. But just when we need this disinterested forum the most, academia has become more politicized as well—not more polarized, but more left-wing.

— Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now

…there is quite a bit of scientific evidence that outstanding performance in many fields is related more to high-quality practice than innate ability (see, for example, Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin).

— John Ousterhout, A Philosophy of Software Design