Rejecting foundationalism means accepting that we have every right to hold basic beliefs that are not legitimated by philosophical reflection.

— Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley, The Stone Reader

Acknowledging that you do not have complete free will, or complete conscious control, actually increases the amount of free will and control you truly have.

— John A. Bargh, Before You Know It

THE HISTORY OF DIGITAL computing can be divided into an Old Testament whose prophets, led by Leibniz, supplied the logic, and a New Testament whose prophets, led by von Neumann, built the machines.

— George Dyson, Turing’s Cathedral

The best way to get past any barrier is to come at it from a different direction, which is one reason it is useful to work with a teacher or coach.

— Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool, Peak

No human being stands as author to his own genes or his upbringing, and yet we have every reason to believe that these factors determine his character throughout life. Our system of justice should reflect our understanding that each of us could have been dealt a very different hand in life. In fact, it seems immoral not to recognize just how much luck is involved in morality itself.

— Sam Harris, The Moral Landscape