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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.
Think
Lying
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Jolie
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Littles
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Steps
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More quotes by A. J. Jacobs

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This is what the Sabbath should feel like. A pause. Not just a minor pause, but a major pause. Not just lowering the volume, but a muting. As the famous rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel put it, the Sabbath is a sanctuary in time.
A. J. Jacobs
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I'm all for cafeteria religion. I think there's nothing wrong with cafeterias - I've had some great meals at cafeterias. I've also had some horrible meals, so it's important to pick the right things. Take a heaping helping of compassion and mercy, and leave the intolerance on the table.
A. J. Jacobs
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I don't believe that prayers actually change God's mind - if there is a God - but I liked praying for people in need. It was like moral weightlifting. I tend to be self-obsessed, and it was nice to get out of my brain once in a while.
A. J. Jacobs
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Taking the Bible too literally is a mistake. It should be read as a guidebook of wisdom and insight.
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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I prefer the earlier birth control techniques, which ranged from the delicious (using honey as a spermicide) to the aerobic (jumping backward seven times after coitus).
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
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Very few people changed the world by sitting on their couch.
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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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 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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Since I was relatively new to the Bible, I was surprised by the Old Testament God. He's wrathful, but at other times, He's incredibly compassionate. He's not a one-dimensional figure at all.
A. J. Jacobs
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There's a beauty to forgiveness, especially forgiveness that goes beyond rationality. Unconditional love is an illogical notion, but such a great & powerful one
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 have little shame, no dignity – all in the name of a better cause.
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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I thought religion would eventually wither away and we'd all be worshiping at the altar of science.
A. J. Jacobs
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I thought religion would make me live with my head in the clouds, but as often as not, it grounds me in this world.
A. J. Jacobs
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Giulia Melucci has written a wonderfully funny and moving book. It's like Eat, Pray, Love, with recipes.
A. J. Jacobs
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It's a different way of looking at the world. Your life isn't about rights. It's about responsibilities.--Mr Bill Berkowitz
A. J. Jacobs