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The Bible improved my ethical IQ. I started to act like a good person. I tried not to gossip, and lie, and covet, and just by pretending I was a good person, I think I actually became a little bit better of a person. I'm not Gandhi or Angelina Jolie, but it was a baby step.

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.
Person
Baby
Improved
Better
Steps
Gossip
Little
Started
Pretending
Good
Bits
Ethical
Think
Lying
Bible
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Tried
Angelina
Like
Littles
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Covet
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Gandhi

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Probably 90 percent of our life decisions are powered by the twin engines of inertia and laziness.
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When I went to Israel, it was a little disorienting, because there are so many people who look crazy and were dressed like me. There, I was just one of the apocalyptic crowd.
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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.
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My immune system has always been overly welcoming of germs. It's far too polite, the biological equivalent of a southern hostess inviting y'all nice microbes to stay awhile and have some artichoke dip.
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Behavior shapes emotions.
A. J. Jacobs
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I love to live things, so I wanted to immerse myself and get into the mindset - and sandals - of my forefathers.
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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.
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Med students panic their first year when they learn all the diseases. It's not until the second year that they learn the cures.
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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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In trying to avoid one sin I've committed another.
A. J. Jacobs
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I was very good at sitting. But I just read so much research about how horrible sitting is for you. It's like, it's really bad. It's like Paula-Deen-glazed-bacon-doughnut bad. So I now move around as much as possible.
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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There's a very passionate pro-chewing movement on the Internet called Chewdiasm. They say that we should be chewing 50 to 100 times per mouthful, which is insane. I tried that. It takes like a day and a half to eat a sandwich. But their basic idea is right. If you chew, you'll eat slower and you will get more nutrients.
A. J. Jacobs
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It's hard to be in a bad mood when you're walking around looking like you're about to play the semifinals at Wimbledon.
A. J. Jacobs
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Plus, in one of his e-mails, the guy said he didn't like pancakes. What kind of asshole doesn't like pancakes?
A. J. Jacobs
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Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t really explain why.
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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Very few people changed the world by sitting on their couch.
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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.”
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The best we can do, to paraphrase Pollan, is to eat whole foods, mostly plants, and not too much.
A. J. Jacobs