After a while, if you’re committed, you start to believe in the things in which you’re praying. It’s just cognitive dissonance. You can’t live a completely religious life and not start to have it sink in.
A. J. JACOBSI grew up in a very secular home with no religion at all, so I was starting from zero.
More A. J. Jacobs Quotes
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Since I was relatively new to the Bible, I was surprised by the Old Testament God. He’s wrathful, but at other times, He’s incredibly compassionate. He’s not a one-dimensional figure at all.
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I know that knowledge and intelligence are not the same thing – but they do live in the same neighborhood. I know once again, firsthand, the joy of learning.
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My immune system has always been overly welcoming of germs. It’s far too polite, the biological equivalent of a southern hostess inviting y’all nice microbes to stay awhile and have some artichoke dip.
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Probably 90 percent of our life decisions are powered by the twin engines of inertia and laziness.
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A 2002 Oxford study showed counting sheep actually delays the onset of sleep. It’s just too dull to stop us from worrying about jobs and spouses.
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It comes back to the old question: How can the Bible be so wise in some places and so barbaric in others? And why should we put any faith in a book that includes such brutality?
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Paintings! They’re like TV, but they don’t move.
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In trying to avoid one sin I’ve committed another.
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Behavior shapes emotions.
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I’d recommend learning to accept rejection. Become friends with rejection. Be nice to rejection, because it’s a huge part of being a writer, no matter where you are in your career.
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My reading list grows exponentially. Every time I read a book, it’ll mention three other books I feel I have to read. It’s like a particularly relentless series of pop-up ads.
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I know that you should always say yes to adventures or you’ll lead a very dull life.
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The best we can do, to paraphrase Pollan, is to eat whole foods, mostly plants, and not too much.
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I love to live things, so I wanted to immerse myself and get into the mindset – and sandals – of my forefathers.
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When I was with the serpent-handlers in Tennessee, it was the most bizarre method of worship I could think of. Yet when you sit with these people, you can kind of see how it makes sense.
A. J. JACOBS