You can do anything…but before you can do anything, you have to do something.

Sometimes, if your opponent is determined to win the battle, let him win the wrong battle.

Regarding war and peace—the seed of each is planted in the other.

Regarding war and peace—the seeds of each are planted in the other.

All too often, our elegant political theories amount to nothing more than ideology triumphing over common sense.

We live in an age of equivocal competency: if you want, you can be a competent dictator, a competent self-promoter, a competent terrorist. Just because you can do something well does not mean you should be doing it.

Why do the powerful always insist on having a “back story” to justify whatever they do? Why can’t they—just once—do something for the simple reason that it is the right thing to do, in itself, for reasons understood and accepted by all? In politics, laws are passed to secretly serve hidden agendas, for without such agendas many lawmakers would never find the motivation to support anything at all.

We recognize authority based on whether we feel we could attain authority by the rules by which the authority was obtained.

Cooler heads prevail while things spin completely out of control.

Note from Alien cookbook: “The more intelligent the human is, the better it tastes.

If you want to impress someone, simply make up a vocation and preface it with the words “molecular” or “theoretical” (as in “molecular biologist” or “theoretical physicist”). After you do this no one will question the veracity of anything you say—whether it is related to your putative vocation or not.

Just because you say you will do something does not mean that you are also willing to do that thing. Ensuring that both things are true is especially important in the matter of either making or receiving a proposal of marriage.

If you can’t be brave in the face of adversity, at least be practical.

Amazing how too much passion in one part of your life can destroy passion in other parts of your life.

If someone tells you that they’re called “blueberries” because they’re berries and they’re blue—believe them.

Sex can be the result of love, but never the cause of it.

Some people say I raised a good child. I like to think of it as my child raised a good parent.

A psychologist’s job (if it’s done well) is to get you to seriously laugh at yourself.

There’s no arguing with a song that writes itself.

You have to know you don’t know before you can know.

It is more important to understand the book you are reading than to finish the book you are reading.

Chronic problems tend to come from chronic habits.

Be careful not to think that just because you know what a person is going to say, you know what that person is going to do.Be careful not to think that just because you know what a person is going to do to others, you know what that person is going to do (or not do) to you.

The tyrant’s formula for every genocide since the beginning of time: differentiate, divide, destroy.

When someone apologizes to you, be sure you know whether they’re sorry, or just scared.

Rare is not synonymous with valuable.

Eating healthy is not so much about what you eat, but what you don’t eat.

Humility and competence are the keys to a successful life.

My philosophy of life: “Don’t just sit around doing nothing and wasting your time—get off your butt and start doing something and wasting your time.

As I get older I find it more and more easy to watch a pot until it boils.

Emotion is the timbre of thought.

A few thoughts on crime and punishment:Punishment—either don’t merit it, or learn to embrace it.It is easy to endure punishment, much harder to accept it.Committing a crime is like incurring a debt: you can either pay it off now, or pay it off later—with interest.

There is no reason to assume our species will survive itself.

In any career, there is a moment when you are no longer need to be pushed up from below, but rather pulled up from above. Know when that moment comes and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Don’t think for a moment that you’ve gotta be perfect to be paid.

Give your ambition a name.

Two examples of irony:...a cheap knock-off of a Chinese Ming vase…made in China....getting murdered in a graveyard.

Just because something is ubiquitous does not mean that it is innocuous.

What is the meaning of life…to give life meaning.

Always try to align your loyalties and commitment with the largest scope of the context you find yourself in. For example, if you work for a department in a company, align yourself with the company—not the department; if you are in an army platoon, align yourself with the army.

Observing stupidity in others is a sure sign of stupidity in the observer.

You are not a better or wiser person simply because you’ve ceased to care.

Don’t ask a yes or no question unless the person being asked can say no without hesitation.

People usually have to be dragged kicking and screaming into what’s good for them.

Do first what you don’t want to do most.

There are four stages to a person’s career:In Stage 1 you are enthusiastic about your work, but inexperienced (start of your career).In Stage 2 you are both enthusiastic about your work and have gained experience (top of your career).In Stage 3 you’re tired of your work, but you are also still competent/experienced (maintenance stage).In Stage 4 you are sick of your work, and because you haven’t been motivated to keep up with your profession, you are now, once again, inexperienced relative to the state-of-the-art in your field (end of career).

His problem is that he doesn’t want anyone until he can have anyone he wants.

Recognize and beware of the snare.