John Pepper

“We’re all on the side of a mountain shocked by how fast it’s gotten dark; the only question is whether we’re with people we love or not. There is no other thing—no belief or religion or faith—there is just that. Just the knowledge that when we finally close our eyes, someone will be there to watch over us as we head out into that great, soaring night.”
― Sebastian Junger, In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife

“Children should—and do, intuitively—want to learn. It’s up to us, the blundering, wrongheaded adults, to frame the lessons correctly.”
― Joi Ito, Whiplash: How to Survive Our Faster Future

“Through our talks, I started to see that he was right: I was destined to win my imagined war with my parents. With each year my independence would grow. In time I would be on my own. All the while—then and into the future—my mother and father would love me. How great was that? Win the war and never lose their love. Without being prescriptive, Dr. Cressey helped me see that (A) my parents loved me; (B) I wouldn’t be under their roof forever; (C) they were actually my allies in terms of what really counted; (D) it was absurd to think that they had done anything wrong.”
― Bill Gates, Source Code: My Beginnings

“Sunk costs are a factor, but the most important causes appear to be psychological rather than economic. Escalation of commitment happens because we’re rationalizing creatures, constantly searching for self-justifications for our prior beliefs as a way to soothe our egos, shield our images, and validate our past decisions.”
― Adam M. Grant, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know