Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.

Friends are sometimes a big help when they share your feelings. In the context of decisions, the friends who will serve you best are those who understand your feelings but are not overly impressed by them.

It's a wonderful thing to be optimistic. It keeps you healthy and it keeps you resilient.

If people can construct a simple and coherent story, they will feel confident regardless of how well grounded it is in reality.

It doesn't take many observations to think you've spotted a trend, and it's probably not a trend at all.

People who are cognitively busy are also more likely to make selfish choices, use sexist language, and make superficial judgments in social situations.

People tend to assess the relative importance of issues by the ease with which they are retrieved from memory—and this is largely determined by the extent of coverage in the media. Frequently mentioned topics populate the mind even as others slip away from awareness. In turn, what the media choose to report corresponds to their view of what is currently on the public’s mind. It is no accident that authoritarian regimes exert substantial pressure on independent media. Because public interest is most easily aroused by dramatic events and by celebrities, media feeding frenzies are common