I explain Plato’s comparison between a democracy and a ship of fools.19 “When it comes to steering a ship, would you trust the captain or the majority vote of the sailors?” Everyone agrees: the captain should be in charge. “So when it comes
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“happiness does not really depend on objective conditions of either wealth, health or even community. Rather, it depends on the correlation between objective conditions and subjective expectations.”
― Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
― Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

“But the life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.”
― On Suicide
― On Suicide

“Science is more than a body of knowledge. It is a way of thinking; a way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility.
If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (political or religious) who comes rambling along.”
―
If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (political or religious) who comes rambling along.”
―

“Life is not a problem. To look at it as a problem is to take a wrong step. It is a mystery to be lived, loved, experienced.”
― Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously
― Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously

“Anni, amori e bicchieri di vino, nun se contano mai.”’ ‘“Years, lovers and glasses of wine; these things must not be counted.”
― The Food of Love
― The Food of Love

Pssst--buddy. Dig spy stories? Foreign intrigue? Conspiracies? Join up with.. We got LeCarre, Deighton; Follett; Littell; Ambler; Furst; Silva a ...more
Carlos’s 2024 Year in Books
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