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Let us imagine a number of men in chains, and all condemned to death, where some are killed each day in the sight of the others, and those who remain see their own fate in that of their fellows, and wait their turn, looking at each other sorrowfully and without hope. It is an image of the condition of men.

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

if your government isn’t wasteful, you’re spending too much time fighting government waste.

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

“If you never miss the plane, you’re spending too much time in airports.”

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

That makes playing the lottery less exciting, to be sure. But for Harvey and the other high-volume bettors, excitement wasn’t the point. Their approach was governed by a simple maxim: if gambling is exciting, you’re doing it wrong.

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

Most of the people on those lists will have nothing to do with terrorism. How confident are you that you’re not one of them?

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

“I’ve been in a thousand arguments over this topic,” he said. “I’ve won them all, and I’ve convinced no one.”

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

The mistake is in being surprised by this encounter with the improbable. The universe is big, and if you’re sufficiently attuned to amazingly improbable occurrences, you’ll find them. Improbable things happen a lot.

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

Don’t talk about percentages of numbers when the numbers might be negative.

— How not to be wrong: the power of mathematical thinking by Jordan Ellenberg

“When they ask how I died,” I said. “Tell them: Still Angry.”

— Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

I walked beside the woman I had killed last week and tried to hold up my end of a conversation about cats.

— Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

I was drinking something that didn’t taste as if it was doing my system too much immediate harm.

— Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

The personal, as everyone’s so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here—it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide out from under with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way you stand a far better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous, marks the difference—the only difference in their eyes—between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, your torture and brutal execution with the ultimate insult that it’s just business, it’s politics, it’s the way of the world, it’s a tough life, and that it’s nothing personal. Well, fuck them. Make it personal.

— Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

“Told you not to go there, didn’t I, pal. Now look at you. Earth.” He spat and disappeared, leaving the echoes of his voice. “It’s a shithole. Got to get to the next screen.”

— Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan

“None of us ask to be dealt in. You think I asked to be born in Fission City, with a web-fingered dwarf for a father and psychotic whore for a mother? You think I asked for that? We’re not dealt in, we’re thrown in, and after that it’s just about keeping your head above water.”

— Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan