A. J. Jacobs Quotes, Wise Quotes, Book Quotes

It comes back to the old question: How can the Bible be so wise in some places and so barbaric in others? And why should we put any faith in a book that includes such brutality?

4 years ago

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Wise Quotes , Book Quotes

The Bible talks a lot about thankfulness, and I'm more thankful than I ever was. I try to concentrate on the hundreds of things that go right in a day, instead of the three or four that go wrong.

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Behavior shapes emotions.

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My reading list grows exponentially. Every time I read a book, it'll mention three other books I feel I have to read. It's like a particularly relentless series of pop-up ads.

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A 2002 Oxford study showed counting sheep actually delays the onset of sleep. It's just too dull to stop us from worrying about jobs and spouses.

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The World Health Organization ... estimated that 1.6 million years of healthy living are lost every year in Europe because of noise pollution.

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I've started to look at life differently. When you're thanking God for every little you - every meal, every time you wake up, every time you take a sip of water - you can't help but be more thankful for life itself, for the unlikely and miraculous fact that you exist at all.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Water Quotes , Thank God Quotes

Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great and powerful one.

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My goal? To test out every diet and exercise regimen on planet earth and figure out which work best. I sweated, I cooked, I learned to pole dance. In the end, I lost weight, lowered my cholesterol and doubled my energy level. I feel better than I ever have.

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Probably 90 percent of our life decisions are powered by the twin engines of inertia and laziness.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Decision Quotes , Laziness Quotes

Let me tell you, though: being the smartest boy in the world wasn’t easy. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want this. On the contrary, it was a huge burden. First, there was the task of keeping my brain perfectly protected. My cerebral cortex was a national treasure, a masterpiece of the Sistine Chapel of brains. This was not something that could be treated frivolously. If I could have locked it in a safe, I would have. Instead, I became obsessed with brain damage.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Boys Quotes , Brain Quotes

I grew up in a very secular home with no religion at all, so I was starting from zero.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Zero Quotes , Home Quotes

Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t really explain why.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Nice Quotes , Feel Better Quotes

The key to making healthy decisions is to respect your future self. Honor him or her. Treat him or her like you would treat a friend or a loved one.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Keys Quotes , Self Quotes

This is what the Sabbath should feel like. A pause. Not just a minor pause, but a major pause. Not just lowering the volume, but a muting. As the famous rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel put it, the Sabbath is a sanctuary in time.

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I've never before been so aware of the thousands of little good things, the thousands of things that go right every day.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Littles Quotes

Think of negative speech as verbal pollution. And that's what I've been doing: visualizing insults and gossip as a dark cloud, maybe one with some sulfur dioxide. Once you've belched it out, you can't take it back. As grandma said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. The interesting this is, the less often I vocalize my negative thoughts, the fewer negative thoughts I cook up in the first place.

4 years ago

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Nice Quotes , Grandma Quotes

There's a very passionate pro-chewing movement on the Internet called Chewdiasm. They say that we should be chewing 50 to 100 times per mouthful, which is insane. I tried that. It takes like a day and a half to eat a sandwich. But their basic idea is right. If you chew, you'll eat slower and you will get more nutrients.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Ideas Quotes , Insane Quotes

A few weeks later, I’m in a fluorescent-lit classroom in Chelsea awaiting the start of the official Mensa test. I’m sitting next to a guy who’s doing a series of elaborate neck stretches, like we’re about to engage in a vigorous rugby match. He’s neatly laid out four types of gum on his Formica desk: Juicy Fruit, Wrigley Spearmint, Big Red, and Eclipse. I hate this guy. I hope to God he’s not a genius.

4 years ago

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Hate Quotes , Guy Quotes

The year showed me beyond a doubt that everyone practices cafeteria religion... But the important lesson was this: there's nothing wrong with choosing. Cafeterias aren't bad per se... the key is in choosing the right dishes. You need to pick the nurturing ones (compassion), the healthy ones (love thy neighbor), not the bitter ones.

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Tags : A. J. Jacobs Quotes , Compassion Quotes , Years Quotes