Ah, Williamstown.

Favourite quotes for today.

Because I'm bored with facebook. I only want to talk to myself today, and this seems like the place to do it. Reassure myself that what I think isn't so crazy. And I don't necessarily agree with these all, but I think that they're worth considering.

You have your way. I have my way.
As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.  — Friedrich Nietzsche

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan

I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell.   — Harry S. Truman


The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking. - A.A. Milne

Our minds are finite and far from noble. Knowing their limits can help us to become better reasoners. — Gary Marcus

To consider something well, of course, is to evaluate both sides of an argument, but unless we also go the extra mile of deliberately forcing ourselves to consider alternatives—which doesn't come naturally— we're more prone to recall evidence consistent with a belief than inconsistent with it. Overcoming this mental weakness (known as confirmation bias) is a lifelong struggle; recognizing that we all suffer from it is an important first step. - Gary Marcus.

That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. - Christopher Hitchens

Contrary to what our brains are telling us, there’s no mystical force that imbues a winner with a streak of luck, nor is there a cosmic sense of justice that ensures that a loser’s luck will turn around. The universe doesn’t care one whit whether you’ve been winning or losing; each roll of the dice is just like every other. — Charles Seife

Your preparation for the real world is not in the answers you’ve learned, but in the questions you’ve learned how to ask yourself.  — Bill Watterson

Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character.  — Heraclitus

Or is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands.  — Marcus Aurelius

Many people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.  — Bertrand Russell

Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies. — Friedrich Nietzsche

mid-January2014