Then one day, we’ll put the reward in the old place, and put in the rat, and, by golloy, the old habit will rememerge right away. habits never really disappear. They’re encoded into the sturctures of our brain, and that’s a huge advantage for us, because it would be awful if we had to relearn how to drive after every vacation. The problem is that your brain can’t tell the difference between bad and good habits, and so if you have a bad one, it’s always lurking there, waiting for the right cues and rewards.

It is facile to imply that smoking, alcoholism, overeating, or other ingrained patters can be upended without real effort. Genuine change requires work and self-understanding of the cravings driving behaviours.

The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can't extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.

Hiding what you know is sometimes as important as knowing it.

Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.

If you dress a new something in old habits, it’s easier for the public to accept it.

America is the Saudi Arabia of coal.