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The best description of motivated reasoning I’ve ever seen comes from psychologist Tom Gilovich. When we want something to be true, he said, we ask ourselves, “Can I believe this?,” searching for an excuse to accept it. When we don’t want
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“Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.”
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“To move is to live, to express oneself is to endure. There is nothing real in life that isn't more real for being beautifully described. Small-minded critics often point out that such and such a poem, for all its generous rhythms, is saying nothing more profound than: it's a nice day. But it's not easy to say it's a nice day, and the nice day itself passes. Our duty, then, is to preserve that nice day in endless, flowering memory and garland with new flowers and new stars the fields and skies of the empty, transient external world.”
― The Book of Disquiet
― The Book of Disquiet
“Tedium is not a sickness brought on by the boredom of having nothing to do but the worse sickness of feeling that nothing is worth doing. And thus, the more one has to do the worse the tedium”
― The Book of Disquiet
― The Book of Disquiet
“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.”
― How to Be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils
― How to Be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils
“The whole experience of being hit by a bullet is very interesting and I think worth describing in detail.”
― Homage to Catalonia
― Homage to Catalonia
Wikimedians
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I've seen quite a few Wikimedians/Wikipedians joining Goodreads recently, so thought it might be nice for us to have a group. Share what you're readin ...more
Peter’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Peter’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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