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The Squirl and his Squirrel, the Rabs and their Rabbits Have certain obscure and peculiar habits. Male hummingbirds make the most exquisite rockets. The snake when he walks holds his hands in his pockets…

— Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The most important thing I realised was that the deepest source of my suffering is in the patterns of my own mind. When I want something and it doesn’t happen, my mind reacts by generating suffering. Suffering is not an objective condition in the outside world. It is a mental reaction generated by my own mind. Learning this is the first step towards ceasing to generate more suffering.

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

focus all their attention on the breath coming in and out of their nostrils. ‘Don’t do anything,’ he kept saying. ‘Don’t try to control the breath or to breathe in any particular way. Just observe the reality of the present moment, whatever it may be. When the breath comes in, you are just aware – now the breath is coming in. When the breath goes out, you are just aware – now the breath is going out. And when you lose your focus and your mind starts wandering in memories and fantasies, you are just aware – now my mind has wandered away from the breath.’

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

If by ‘free will’ you mean the freedom to do what you desire – then yes, humans have free will. But if by ‘free will’ you mean the freedom to choose what to desire – then no, humans have no free will.

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

A wise old man was asked what he learned about the meaning of life. ‘Well,’ he answered, ‘I have learned that I am here on earth in order to help other people. What I still haven’t figured out is why the other people are here.’

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

when you begin to explore the manifold ways the world manipulates you, in the end you realise that your core identity is a complex illusion created by neural networks.

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

When a thousand people believe some made-up story for one month – that’s fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years – that’s a religion,

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

Scientists hope to dispel wrong views by better science education, and pundits hope to sway public opinion on issues such as Obamacare or global warming by presenting the public with accurate facts and expert reports. Such hopes are grounded in a misunderstanding of how humans actually think. Most of our views are shaped by communal groupthink rather than individual rationality, and we hold on to these views out of group loyalty.

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

We think we know a lot, even though individually we know very little, because we treat knowledge in the minds of others as if it were our own.

— 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari