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I know that history is simultaneously a bloody mess and a collection of feats so inspiring and amazing they make you proud to share the same DNA structure with the rest of humanity. I know you'd better focus on the good stuff or you're screwed.

A. J. Jacobs

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A. J. Jacobs
Age: 56
Born: 1968
Born: March 20
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
AJ Jacobs
Arnold Steven Jacobs
Jr.
Honey K Balani
Honey K. Balani
A.J. Jacobs
A J Jacobs
Arnold Stephen Jacobs
Jr.
History
Inspiring
Feats
Stuff
Amazing
Screwed
Better
Structure
Dna
Make
Proud
Simultaneously
Good
Rest
Collection
Focus
Collections
Share
Bloody
Humanity
Mess

More quotes by A. J. Jacobs

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The year showed me beyond a doubt that everyone practices cafeteria religion... But the important lesson was this: there's nothing wrong with choosing. Cafeterias aren't bad per se... the key is in choosing the right dishes. You need to pick the nurturing ones (compassion), the healthy ones (love thy neighbor), not the bitter ones.
A. J. Jacobs
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Jealousy is a useless, time-wasting emotion that's eating me alive.
A. J. Jacobs
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A 2002 Oxford study showed counting sheep actually delays the onset of sleep. It's just too dull to stop us from worrying about jobs and spouses.
A. J. Jacobs
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Paintings! They're like TV, but they don't move.
A. J. Jacobs
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I tried the paleo diet, which is the caveman diet - lots of meat. I tried the raw food vegan diet. And I tried the calorie restriction diet, which is the idea is that if you eat very, very little - if you're on the verge of starvation, you will live a very long time. Whether or not you want to, of course, is the idea.
A. J. Jacobs
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I'm addicted to self-improvement. The thing is, there's so damn much about myself to improve.
A. J. Jacobs
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I find placebos uplifting and exhilarating. It means that taking action--no matter what the action is--might help you feel better.
A. J. Jacobs
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The key to making healthy decisions is to respect your future self. Honor him or her. Treat him or her like you would treat a friend or a loved one.
A. J. Jacobs
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After decimating several vegetables, I decide juicing is my favorite form of food preparation. There's something perversely appealing about subjecting an innocent plant to that much violence.
A. J. Jacobs
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The Bible talks a lot about thankfulness, and I'm more thankful than I ever was. I try to concentrate on the hundreds of things that go right in a day, instead of the three or four that go wrong.
A. J. Jacobs
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I've never before been so aware of the thousands of little good things, the thousands of things that go right every day.
A. J. Jacobs
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Very few people changed the world by sitting on their couch.
A. J. Jacobs
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In trying to avoid one sin I've committed another.
A. J. Jacobs
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A loud noise will get your fight-or-flight response going. This, over the years, can cause real cardiovascular damage.
A. J. Jacobs
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I grew up in a very secular home with no religion at all, so I was starting from zero.
A. J. Jacobs
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I love it when the Bible gives Emily Post-like tips that are both wise and easy to follow.
A. J. Jacobs
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I know that knowledge and intelligence are not the same thing - but they do live in the same neighborhood. I know once again, firsthand, the joy of learning.
A. J. Jacobs
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Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great and powerful one.
A. J. Jacobs
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If my former self and my current self met for coffee, they'd get along OK, but they'd both probably walk out of the Starbucks shaking their heads and saying to themselves, “That guy is kinda delusional.”
A. J. Jacobs
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The World Health Organization ... estimated that 1.6 million years of healthy living are lost every year in Europe because of noise pollution.
A. J. Jacobs