“Consciousness lies beyond the framework of quantum mechanics. It must be regarded as a primitive of the universe itself, not merely of brains. If consciousness is a universal primitive, then the entire totality of what exists is conscious and desires self‑knowledge. That offers the best way to understand evolution and why we can know: we are parts of a greater whole, we are fields—not bodies. The body is simply the creation of the field, enabling the field to have experiences in a reality collectively constructed by a multitude of fields.”— Federico Faggin
The quote archive
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
Having a plan, feeling confident and being competent are the greatest antidotes to fear. If you're just trying to deal with the unknown by crossing your fingers and hoping, you will be utterly helpless when a situation finally manifests. In reality, you're rarely (if ever) completely helpless, you allow yourself to be helpless.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
In postmodernism, there are no absolute truths; everything is relative, of course other than the one absolute truth that there are no absolute truths. This is a form of intellectual terrorism, nihilism.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
Everything we do in one sense or another is consummatory. We consume religious narratives, we consume literature, we consume friendships. Our mate choices are the ultimate form of consumer choice.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
The main currency on our campuses has become the management of hurt feelings.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
It takes intellectuals to come up with some of the most moronic ideas possible.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
Humans can be parasitized by actual brain worms, but also by idea pathogens that cause them to behave in profoundly maladaptive ways.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
I can't advertise chewing gum to my children because it's unethical, but I can feed them all sorts of narratives that will have a profound impact on their personal trajectories. It's quite an extraordinarily hypocritical position.
— Gad SaadEvolutionary Psychologist & Author Known for Consumer Behavior Research
If Leonardo Da Vinci could somehow be transported to the present, he would be blown away by the level of knowledge that's available to all of us by a simple press of a key. It follows that we all have the opportunity to be on the level of Da Vinci or Franklin because we all have access to so many different forms of knowledge.
— Robert GreeneAuthor of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist
I want you to not deny your shadow, your darkest impulses, but to find ways to use them and turn them into something productive. We ought to take that ambition, those aggressive impulses, and channel them into our work, into great causes, into justice.
— Robert GreeneAuthor of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist
You have to have some humility in life before you can begin to understand yourself, and before you can begin to change yourself, the world, or other people. If you only think others have problems, you're never going to be able to look at yourself and change who you are.
— Robert GreeneAuthor of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist
The number one thing I've discovered is that people deny that they have any of these traits. We always want to say it's that other person who is a narcissist, the other person is aggressive, they have envy, but no…. not us. We deny we have these qualities and make out as if we are the exception.
— Robert GreeneAuthor of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist
When you love what you do, when you're excited about your field, when you've chosen a path that connects with you personally- you will learn fast, you will accomplish in 5 years what it would take others 15 years to do.
— Robert GreeneAuthor of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist
We are creatures of history, yet we have this idea that we are alienated from our past – and that's a deep problem. Language is a product of thousands of years of history. The words that we speak are not our own. The ideas we have are not our own. They come from many other sources, stretching back hundreds, and thousands of years. The past is extremely alive in the present moment.
— Robert GreeneAuthor of "The 48 Laws of Power" & Strategist
You have some smart people gaslighting us into telling us this isn't true... and that's now how history works. Those same people, when a Donald Trump figure comes onto the scene- or some other toxic force- are like who's going to save us? But they discouraged you from believing people had the power to do that.
— Ryan HolidayAuthor & Stoicism Expert; Marketer & Media Strategist
When I look at my own life- the things that I'm most embarrassed about are the moments where I acted, or didn't act, because of fear. The moments I'm most proud of are those where I acted with some semblance of courage.
— Ryan HolidayAuthor & Stoicism Expert; Marketer & Media Strategist
Legacy is not for us to decide, it's not for us to chase, it's not for us to get, it's not for us to enjoy. I don't think about it much.
— Ryan HolidayAuthor & Stoicism Expert; Marketer & Media Strategist