”If you are in a state of painful thirst, then a bottle of water increase your well-being significantly. More water means more pleasure. But what if I gave you a cistern of water? Clearly your well-being becomes rapidly insensitive to further quantities. As a matter of fact, if I gave you the choice between a bottle or a cistern you would prefer the bottle – so your enjoyment declines with additional quantities.
These nonlinear relationships are ubiquitous in life. Linear relationships are truly the exception; we only focus on them in classrooms and textbooks because they are easier to understand.”
J. B. MacKinnon:
"I have a rule of thumb for when a lifestyle change will be meaningful: When it feels like an adventure."
Robert A. Burton:
”Though not necessarily aware of when we feel purpose and meaning, we are nearly always aware of the sickening feeling when we don't possess them.”
Norman Boucher:
“‘If you lack empathy,’ President [Ruth] Simmons told the members of the [Brown University] class of 2011 assembled inside the First Baptist Church in America on Sunday morning, ‘you will find yourself lacking a fundamental necessity for leading a life of usefulness and reputation.’ Work every day, she urged the graduates, to strengthen the ability to empathize with others.”
Anthony Robbins:
"Often individuals do things that afterward they are unhappy with themselves about simply because they are not clear about what they unconsciously believe is right for them and others.”
Barbara J. King:
“...our ancient primate legacy is to be transformed moment by moment through the process of being social and emotional with others.”
Virginia Woolf:
"...one never knows how far other people feel the things they might be supposed to feel."
Glennon Doyle Melton:
"I’ll just say that my heart did that thing that happened to the Grinch – remember when his heart swelled so many sizes that it almost burst? That’s why I go to church – for the heart swelling. The heart swelling is the only buzz I have left. Luckily it’s the best one I’ve found: the kind of buzz that leaves me better and bigger instead of worse and smaller."
Sources
Nassim Nicholas Taleb. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. New York: Random House, 2007. p. 89.
"In an Age of Eco-Uncertainty." J. B. MacKinnon. Reprinted from Explore (May 2010). UTNE Reader, Sept-Oct 2010, p. 73.
Robert A. Burton. On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not. New York: St. Martin's Grffin, 2008. p, 178.
“The Send-Off.” Norman Boucher. Brown Alumni Magazine, [date unrecorded] p. 10.
Anthony Robbins. Unlimited Power. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1986.pp. 17-18.
Barbara J. King. Evolving God: A Provocative View on the Origins of Religion. New York: Doubleday, 2007. p. 168.
Virginia Woolf. The Voyage Out (1915).
“The most honest, beautiful, important question I have ever heard anyone ask.” Glennon Doyle Melton. Momastery. April 1, 2015.
