It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success.

By shifting the balance away from the individual we open the door for the individual. Because we make it obvious that anyone can do it given the right circumstance.

People don't rise from nothing.

Jenny Simpson loses her shoe in the women's fifteen hundred, with a lap and a half to go, destroying her chances to repeat as world champion, and she gives the most gracious interview afterward about how she's had a wonderful career already. Great for Jenny Simpson. Bad for the sport! We need drama!

Happiness, in one sense, is a function of how closely our world conforms to the infinite variety of human preference.

There is more going on beneath the surface than we think, and more going on in little, finite moments of time than we would guess.

Policy is driven by more than politics, however. It is equally driven by ideas.