Epigrams

"Why would that be? This is far from a resolved question, but the proponents of the so-called social brain hypothesis say that reason is that social behavior is a uniquely demanding task, putting unprecedented strain on our brain's capacities. All mammals, to some extent, use their brain as a mirror, understanding others' behavior by modeling it inside their own mind. But primates, whose defensive groups swell into the tens and even hundreds, had to contend with tens and hundreds of these complex, interconnected models of other group members — their personalities, their emotions, their mutual relationships — which one of them did what to whom at what point and so on, a tremendous trove of complex data that we, humans, take to be as natural as eating dinner but that would befuddle even the smartest non-primate. In short, the social brain hypothesis states that social life is what pushed us to become intelligent.

The way this explanation differs from others is by offering an incentive rather than simply means to achieve it: yes, free hands, meat diet, and many other factors made our brain possible, but the reason we needed it in the first place was to remember all our friends who helped us fight monsters." -- Unrecognized credible-claiming Neuroscientist in an unrecognized online publication

“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.

They are like this because they cannot distinguish good from evil, while I have recognized the nature of both, the good as beautiful and the bad as ugly, and the nature of the wrongdoer himself as akin to my own, not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, possessing a share of the divine.

Therefore, I cannot be harmed by any of them, as no one can involve me in what is degrading. Nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him. For we were born for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of upper and lower teeth. To work against one another is unnatural. To feel anger at someone or turn one’s back on him—this is to work against him.” -– Marcus Aurelius

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." -– Calvin Coolidge