I don’t believe that prayers actually change God’s mind – if there is a God – but I liked praying for people in need. It was like moral weightlifting. I tend to be self-obsessed, and it was nice to get out of my brain once in a while.
A. J. JACOBSAfter 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.
More A. J. Jacobs Quotes
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I found there were things about religion that I really loved; things like the sense of gratefulness that it brings.
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Its sort of my job to feel good.
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Paintings! They’re like TV, but they don’t move.
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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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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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The best we can do, to paraphrase Pollan, is to eat whole foods, mostly plants, and not too much.
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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.
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If my former self and my current self met for coffee, they’d get along OK, but they’d both probably walk out of the Starbucks shaking their heads and saying to themselves, “That guy is kinda delusional.”
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I was what they call ‘skinny fat’ – a body that resembled a python after swallowing a goat.
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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’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.
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When I went to Israel, it was a little disorienting, because there are so many people who look crazy and were dressed like me. There, I was just one of the apocalyptic crowd.
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I thought religion would make me live with my head in the clouds, but as often as not, it grounds me in this world.
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In trying to avoid one sin I’ve committed another.
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Med students panic their first year when they learn all the diseases. It’s not until the second year that they learn the cures.
A. J. JACOBS