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Link is to a WordPress article. How can a religion who preaches love and compassion stand by this? It's disgusting.  

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Miracles, arn't.

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Parent's "be careful" attitude contributes (is the cause of) a lack of risk taking in children, as well as a large portion of approval seeking behavior from children as they grow up.

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We were born to need each other, but we haven't learned to live with each other.

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The secret to a happy life is low expectations

Declamation 

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You can't run a society by the lowest common denominator.

Philip K. Howard

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People who come up with new, creative, "innovative" solutions for a problem often come under much scrutiny, and people think they're crazy. The problem with engineering is that because it's logical, people intuitively assume it's the right solve for a problem. You never see company director say "I've got this solution that will solve the problem, but first lets go show the problem to some crazy people and see if they can do better"

Declamation 

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If you want to make someone chose one option over another, throw in a slightly but obviously less desirable version of the option you want them to pick. They'll pick the better of the two, even over the third option, because there is clearly a comparable advantage. That's just human nature.

Declamation

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Engineers, medical people, scientific people, have an obsession with solving the problems of reality, when actually … once you reach a basic level of wealth in society, most problems are actually problems of perception.

Rory Sutherland

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The circumstances of our lives actually matter less to our happiness than the sense of control we feel over our lives.

Rory Sutherland

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There is no such thing as innocence. Only Ignorance. And the ignorant are not blissful, they are the but of a joke they're not even aware of.

Neil Strauss 

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The reason psychologists are all pricks, is that they're aware of all the little bullshit things people do to make themselves happier with life, so they don't work anymore.

Declamation 

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Bank Tellers - A Metaphor for Success

I'd like to just take a second here to talk about my last quote, about bank tellers not stealing cash. Getting right down to the point it's about delayed gratification. One of the most simple concepts for success that's rarely undertaken in our society. 

Stealing cash from the bank seems like an obvious example of something not to do, as there is a rather obvious external punishment for this act. However what it stands for is still important.

Try to apply this concept of delayed gratification to another area of your life, perhaps one with a less obvious outcome. Eating that bag of potato chips. Staying in bed through that 8am lecture. Going straight to bed without brushing your teeth. These things all feel good in the moment, but lead to many negative consequences down the track.

Why we do these things in the moment - because we've trained the pleasure center center of our brains to crave instant satisfaction. You think you're not addicted to anything? Try it next time you find yourself staying in bed, eating unhealthy foods when you have a better option. Try not checking facebook for a few hours. And you wonder why people say giving up smoking is so hard.

Why is this important? "I could choose not do these things that are bad for me if I wanted to, but I just choose to do them. I don't care about the outcome that this task gives me, but if it was something I actually wanted in the long term, I could stop in a second". Yep, we've all used that excuse. Except, how many times have you binged on a diet, eaten greasy foods when you want clear skin, sat on the computer when you want to get buff when the ground for pushing-up on is right there.

Now, why is it important? Practicing delaying gratification trains your brain to not grow addicted to the chemicals released when you feel satisfied. Not hooked on meth? What about dopamine - a chemical released naturally from the hypothalamus (brain) that gives the sensation of pleasure (from something tasting good, right up to an orgasm, that feeling is (partly) dopamine. You just can't wait for the next hit.

AGAIN, why is it important? Not getting adicted your bodies natural chemicals makes it easier to say no when something you truly should wait for comes along.

Furthermore, studies have shown that people who can practice delayed gratification have more success in life (they should teach this sort of stuff in schools, but more on that later). Have a read about the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment if you're still curious. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer

- Declamation

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People who work in banks generally don't steal the cash; although they want more money in the moment, they value their future more.

Neil Strauss 

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I've missed 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life.. And that is why I succeed .

Michael Jordan 

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Jack of all trades, master of none; though often better than a master of one.

Declamating Wisdom