“Think of negative speech as verbal pollution. And that's what I've been doing: visualizing insults and gossip as a dark cloud, maybe one with some sulfur dioxide. Once you've belched it out, you can't take it back. As grandma said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. The interesting this is, the less often I vocalize my negative thoughts, the fewer negative thoughts I cook up in the first place.”
A.J. Jacobs“There's almost always a church youth group at the soup kitchen. I have yet to see an atheists' youth group. Yeah, I know, religious people don't have a monopoly on doing good. I'm sure that there are many agnostics and atheists out there slinging mashed potatoes at other soup kitchens. I know the world is full of selfless secular gropus like Doctors without Borders. But I've got to say: It's a lot easier to do good if you put your faith in a book that requires you to do good.”
A.J. Jacobs“I find placebos uplifting and exhilarating. It means that taking action--no matter what the action is--might help you feel better.”
A.J. Jacobs“Think of negative speech as verbal pollution. And that's what I've been doing: visualizing insults and gossip as a dark cloud, maybe one with some sulfur dioxide. Once you've belched it out, you can't take it back. As grandma said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. The interesting this is, the less often I vocalize my negative thoughts, the fewer negative thoughts I cook up in the first place.”
A.J. Jacobs“The Bible's "it's better to give than receive" was not the raving of a lunatic. It goes back to a recurring theme that I've found in almost all my experiments: behaviour shapes your thoughts. My brain sees me giving a gift to Julie. My brain concludes I must really love her. I love her all the more. Which means I'm happier in my relationship, if a bit poorer.”
A.J. Jacobs, The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment“Plus, in one of his e-mails, the guy said he didn't like pancakes. What kind of asshole doesn't like pancakes? ”
A.J. Jacobs, The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment“My growing collection of facts keeps overlapping with my life.”
A.J. Jacobs, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World“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, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection“One of my biggest challenges is figuring out how to shoehorn my newfound knowledge into conversations.”
A.J. Jacobs, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World“I know that you should eat a lot of the Indian spice turmeric, as it fights cancer. Also that you should avoid the Indian spice turmeric, as it might contain dangerous levels of lead. One or the other.”
A.J. Jacobs, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection“Reading Encyclopaedia Britannica is like channel surfing on a very highbrow cable system.”
A.J. Jacobs, The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World