Charlie O'donnell

“the idea of work as an ultimate source of meaning tends to set people up for failure and frustration over and above the practical problems of overwork. One of the nice things about emphasizing relationships with family, friends, and community as a source of meaning is that this is an attainable goal for virtually everyone.”
― Matthew Yglesias, One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger

“Only a social policy founded on respect for the dignity of the individual can help make the average citizen more open to ideas of toleration.”
― Abhijit V. Banerjee, Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems

“Economic life, fundamentally, is competitive. Even someone lucky enough to make a living doing something truly enjoyable is always going to be faced with the prospect of someone else who is more successful at the same thing, or someone younger who is threatening to close the gap. More emphasis on relationships with our kids, our friends, our nieces and nephews, or the children in our neighborhoods is something that’s much more accessible and egalitarian. And while Congress can’t pass a law mandating that people reorient their thinking in this way, such a reorientation would naturally be both part of the case for stepping up investment in family life and a consequence of doing so.”
― Matthew Yglesias, One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger

“moral order arises in some way from human nature itself and from the requirements of our living together in society.”
― John Rawls, Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy