Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.

Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.

For many people, commuting is the worst part of the day, and policies that can make commuting shorter and more convenient would be a straightforward way to reduce minor but widespread suffering.

You get pseudo-order when you seek order; you only get a measure of order and control when you embrace randomness.

Modernity has replaced ethics with legalese, and the law can be gamed with a good lawyer.

Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words 'impossible', 'never', 'too difficult' too often, drop him or her from your social network.

Scientists don't know what they are talking about when they talk about religion. Religion has nothing to do with belief, and I don't believe it has any negative impact on people's lives outside of intolerance. Why do I go to church? It's like asking, why did you marry that woman? You make up reasons, but it's probably just smell. I love the smell of candles. It's an aesthetic thing.