…cultures are not conspiracies concocted by some people in order to take advantage of others (as Marxists tend to think). Rather, cultures are mental parasites that emerge accidentally, and thereafter take advantage of all people infected by them.

— Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens

…children who had received just a single sentence praising their intelligence found the difficult puzzles far less enjoyable than their classmates did, and so they were far less likely to work on them on their own time.

— Richard Wiseman, 59 Seconds

Whoever makes two ears of corn, or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of humanity, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together.

— Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

You should plan on working 60 hours per week. The first 40 are for your employer. The remaining 20 are for you. During this remaining 20 hours you should be reading, practicing, learning, and otherwise enhancing your career.

— Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder

…the second mouse gets the cheese.

— Martin Erwig, Once Upon an Algorithm