Vasil Kolev

“(From an interview with Daniel Kahneman)

Q. Is it possible that one barrier for women trying to work in male-dominated fields is that such an environment demands extra mental effort on behalf of the women?

A. Being self-conscious takes up mental capacity and is certainly not good for performance. Furthermore, the more self-conscious you are, the more likely you are to interpret (and sometimes misinterpret) the attitudes of others as gender-based, which is bound to make things worse. However, there is hope: self-consciousness is likely to diminish when you are in a stable environment, interacting with people you know well. The trend appears to be favorable: improving attitudes of men, rising representation of women in many male-dominated occupations, so the future is likely to be better than the past.”
― Stephen D. Levitt Stephen J. Dubner

“You learn to appreciate the fact that what drives you is very different from what you’re told should make you happy. You learn that it’s okay to prefer your personal idea of heaven (live-tweeting zombie movies from under a blanket of kittens) rather than someone else’s idea that fame/fortune/parties are the pinnacle we should all reach for. And there’s something surprisingly freeing about that.”
― Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

“What distinguished whistleblowers from their peers was intolerance of belief without action. There was black and there was white and they refused to avert their eyes, even—or especially—if others would not let themselves see. Going public followed inevitably. Whatever else drove Ellsberg and Snowden, their zeal was sincere.”
― Barton Gellman, Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State

“Money can't buy happiness, BUT it can buy books (which is basically the same thing).”
― Shaun Bythell, Confessions of a Bookseller