Robert Pogue Harrison: We like to think of ourselves as the stewards or even saviors of nature, yet the fact of the matter is, for the animal world at large, the human race represents nothing less than a natural disaster.
William H. Gass: When I've wormed through a fence to reach a meadow, do I ever feel the same about the field?
Emrys Westacott: When hope and evidence arm wrestle, hope usually comes out on top.
Sendhil Mullainathan: The urge to find and call out the bigot is powerful, and doing so is satisfying. But it is also a way to let ourselves off the hook. Rather than point fingers outward, we should look inward -- and examine how, despite best intentions, we discriminate in ways big and small.
Doc Searls and David Weinberger: Apparently knowing how to find one another interesting is not as easy as it looks.
Daniel J. Levitin: It turns out the brain is very good at this deluding business.
Ursula K. Le Guin: It is very hard not to be able to blame anybody else. But it may be worth it.
Ta-Nehisi Coates: The interest in power is almost always accompanied by the need to sanctify that power.
Melinda Gates: Let your heart break. It will change what you do with your optimism.
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