We rewarded staff for referrals—something I’ve since learned is one of the most terrible HR tactics ever invented if you want an intentionally joyful culture.

— Richard Sheridan, Joy, Inc.

We are conscious, that we ourselves, in adapting means to ends, are guided by reason and design, and that ‘tis not ignorantly nor casually we perform those actions, which tend to self-preservation, to the obtaining pleasure, and avoiding pain

— David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature

…a clay tablet from Mesopotamia, dated to about 1700 B.C. and now in the Louvre, poses the following problem: How long will it take for a sum of money to double if invested at 20 percent interest rate compounded annually?

— Eli Maor, E

There’s an additional depressing reason why stress fosters aggression—because it reduces stress.

— Robert M. Sapolsky, Behave

even toddlers know that rules should be followed but that they can be changed. These two capacities, capacities for love and law, for caring about others and following the rules, allow our characteristically human combination of moral depth and flexibility.

— Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical Baby