Joe

“Perhaps we are just apes with brains being manipulated by memes in much the way we are manipulated by the cold virus. Instead of looking only at the prerequisite competences our ancestors needed to have in order for language to get under way, perhaps we should also consider unusual vulnerabilities that might make our ancestors the ideal hosts for infectious but nonvirulent habits (memes) that allowed us to live and stay mobile long enough for them to replicate through our populations.”
― Daniel C. Dennett, From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds

“I used to believe that gratitude for life came from being happy, but I have come to realize that the reverse is also true, perhaps even more so: being happy comes from feeling grateful for life.”
― William Ury, Getting to Yes with Yourself:

“Every one carries his own inch-rule of taste, and amuses himself by applying it, triumphantly, wherever he travels.”
― Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams

“I have seen, over and over, the connection between tuning in to what brings aliveness into our systems and bring able to access personal, relational and communal power. Conversely, I have seen how denying our full, complex selves—denying our aliveness and our needs as living, sensual beings—increases the chance that we will be at odds with ourselves, our loved ones, our coworkers, and our neighbors on this planet.”
― Adrienne Maree Brown, Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good