I find placebos uplifting and exhilarating. It means that taking action–no matter what the action is–might help you feel better.
A. J. JACOBSScrabble – The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t really explain why.
More A. J. Jacobs Quotes
-
-
I am officially Jewish, but I’m Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.
A. J. JACOBS -
Taking the Bible too literally is a mistake. It should be read as a guidebook of wisdom and insight.
A. J. JACOBS -
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.
A. J. JACOBS -
The best we can do, to paraphrase Pollan, is to eat whole foods, mostly plants, and not too much.
A. J. JACOBS -
I was what they call ‘skinny fat’ – a body that resembled a python after swallowing a goat.
A. J. JACOBS -
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.
A. J. JACOBS -
I’m not a fan of ‘write what you know.’ If you don’t know, find out. I knew nothing about the Bible before I started writing ‘The Year of Living Biblically.’ That was kind of the point – to learn.
A. J. JACOBS -
Probably 90 percent of our life decisions are powered by the twin engines of inertia and laziness.
A. J. JACOBS -
I was very good at sitting. But I just read so much research about how horrible sitting is for you. It’s like, it’s really bad. It’s like Paula-Deen-glazed-bacon-doughnut bad. So I now move around as much as possible.
A. J. JACOBS -
Behavior shapes emotions.
A. J. JACOBS -
Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great and powerful one.
A. J. JACOBS -
Scrabble – The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t really explain why.
A. J. JACOBS -
It’s hard to be in a bad mood when you’re walking around looking like you’re about to play the semifinals at Wimbledon.
A. J. JACOBS -
Jealousy is a useless, time-wasting emotion that’s eating me alive.
A. J. JACOBS -
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.
A. J. JACOBS -
I’m addicted to self-improvement. The thing is, there’s so damn much about myself to improve.
A. J. JACOBS -
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?
A. J. JACOBS -
I love to live things, so I wanted to immerse myself and get into the mindset – and sandals – of my forefathers.
A. J. JACOBS -
Its sort of my job to feel good.
A. J. JACOBS -
I have little shame, no dignity – all in the name of a better cause.
A. J. JACOBS -
I’ve never before been so aware of the thousands of little good things, the thousands of things that go right every day.
A. J. JACOBS -
I thought religion would eventually wither away and we’d all be worshiping at the altar of science.
A. J. JACOBS -
Giulia Melucci has written a wonderfully funny and moving book. It’s like Eat, Pray, Love, with recipes.
A. J. JACOBS -
I thought religion would make me live with my head in the clouds, but as often as not, it grounds me in this world.
A. J. JACOBS -
There’s a beauty to forgiveness, especially forgiveness that goes beyond rationality. Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great & powerful one
A. J. JACOBS -
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