Chapter 18 of Carl Sagan’s book “Billions and Billions” is called “The Twentieth Century” and begins with a couple of interesting quotes. I’ll reproduce them as they are quoted in full. Sagan lists three broad innovations of the twentieth century: All three Sagan says “have been brought forth by science and technology, a sword with…
“I do believe there is life after death. But it’s nothing like the Christian belief of heaven and hell. I believe it’s more like a weird sort of purgatory. Some of our energy is passed on to other living beings. Our consciousness, I feel, drifts about, sometimes remaining anchored for a time, potentially a long…
“Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.” – Cory Doctorow Jared Henderson included this quote in a July 2025 video…
“I have always felt like I was two wrong turns away from complete destruction. We all are, and we’re fooling ourselves if we think we’re not.” – Jami Attenberg This piece of raw honesty from Jami Attenberg comes from her memoir, “I Came All This Way To Meet You: Writing My Way Home,” when discussing…
“One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.” – Maya Angelou Maya Angelou once said, “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential.” With courage comes the ability…
“Writing: It starts at the keyboard, and it ends at the far corners of the universe.” — Paako, From Vincent Lowry, Constellation Chronicles: The Lost Civilization of Aries Long ago I came across this quote on Twitter and it got me thinking. Whenever I sit down to write something, I usually don’t have much of…
“Failure runs parallel to letting your guard down.” – Eric Longenhagen & Kiley McDaniel, Future Value No matter how hard you try to prevent it, failure will happen in your life. It’s an unavoidable part of being human, especially when you have your guard down. Sometimes you think it’s safe to relax and let your…
“It is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.” – Sherlock Holmes, from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes short story, The Man with the Twisted Lip. While I’ve always been a fan of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories, since reading the DK Big Ideas Book about Sherlock Holmes, I’ve gained new…
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by.” – Marcus Aurelius Accepting and cherishing your own individuality is the most important thing in leading a good life. The greatest…
“Luck is the residue of design.” – Branch Rickey, legendary baseball general manager Branch Rickey is most famous for being the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers who signed Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to become a regular player in Major League Baseball. In baseball circles, though, he’s perhaps even more famous for inventing what…