In short, people who believe that success depends only on talent and effort and have an exaggerated sense of how talented they are may find it easier to muster the kinds of effort necessary for success. If so, those false beliefs may be perversely adaptive.

— Robert H. Frank, Success and Luck

When you read good, coherent actions, you think, “This is going to be uncomfortable, but I think it can work.” When you read bad ones, you think, “Ah, we got afraid of the consequences, and we aren’t really changing anything.”

— Will Larson, An Elegant Puzzle

…belief is easier than disbelief; we believe instinctively, but disbelief requires a conscious effort.

— Eliezer Yudkowsky, Map and Territory

“[The common definition of estimate is] ‘An estimate is the most optimistic prediction that has a non-zero probability of coming true.’ “Accepting this definition leads irrevocably toward a method called what’s-the-earliest-date-by-which-you-can’t-prove-you-won’t-be-finished estimating.”

— Steve McConnell, Rapid Development

What is the point of knowledge if it doesn’t help anyone or produce anything? … shift as much of your time and effort as possible from consuming to creating.

— Tiago Forte, Building a Second Brain