Quotessence
Home / Authors / A. J. Jacobs
A. J. Jacobs

A. J. Jacobs Quotes

Journalist

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsFeelsLittlesShouldYearsNicePeopleThinkingWorldBook

Famous A. J. Jacobs Quotes

“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.”

KnowsHumanityStuffHistoryFocusShareProudStructureMessCollectionsBloodyDnaFeats
Book:The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Create image

“I got a sense of the amazingness of ordinary life, and I became aware of the marvel that we're around to begin with. I visited a lot of extreme communities, like the Amish, Hasidic Jews, and serpent-handlers. And I was proud, because I think I'm the first person to ever out-Bible-talk a Jehovah's Witness. After four hours, he said, "Okay, I have to go."”

ThinkingFirstsPersonsSaidCommunityHoursFourProudOrdinaryOkayJewExtremesWitnessFirst PersonOrdinary LifeSerpentJehovahAmish
Author:A. J. Jacobs
Create image

“There's a lot of food restriction in the Bible, but it does say you're allowed to eat crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. I decided to take advantage of that and eat a cricket. It was chocolate-covered, and I'm not sure that's the way they were served in Moses' time. But this was a rule that seemed crazy on the outside, then actually turned out to be pragmatic and compassionate.”

WayDoeCrazyAdvantageDecidedNot SureChocolateCoveredCompassionateCricketRestrictionMosesPragmaticGrasshoppers
Author:A. J. Jacobs
Create image

“Let me tell you, though: being the smartest boy in the world wasn’t easy. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t want this. On the contrary, it was a huge burden. First, there was the task of keeping my brain perfectly protected. My cerebral cortex was a national treasure, a masterpiece of the Sistine Chapel of brains. This was not something that could be treated frivolously. If I could have locked it in a safe, I would have. Instead, I became obsessed with brain damage.”

IfsWorldWantFirstsAsksEasyBrainBoysHugeSafeTasksLet MeBurdenContraryTreasureTreatedObsessedDamageIf I CouldLockedProtectedMasterpieceCerebralChapelNational TreasureSistine Chapel
Book:The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Create image

“I always thought the name of Utah’s major newspaper was some sort of weird misspelling of the word “desert.” But no, Deseret is the “land of the honeybee,” according to the Book of Mormon. I guess I should have figured they would have caught a typo in the masthead after 154 years.”

ShouldYearsBookNamesLandMajorsShould HaveCaughtNewspapersDesertUtahTypos
Book:The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Create image

“A few weeks later, I’m in a fluorescent-lit classroom in Chelsea awaiting the start of the official Mensa test. I’m sitting next to a guy who’s doing a series of elaborate neck stretches, like we’re about to engage in a vigorous rugby match. He’s neatly laid out four types of gum on his Formica desk: Juicy Fruit, Wrigley Spearmint, Big Red, and Eclipse. I hate this guy. I hope to God he’s not a genius.”

BigsGuyHateNextFourWeekTypeGeniusSittingRedTestsI HateSeriesFruitOfficialsNecksClassroomDesksLitThis GuyVigorousRugbyEclipseGumChelseaJuicy
Book:The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Create image

“I'm still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I'm now a reverant agnostic. Which isn't an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there's a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. It's possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn't take away from its power or importance.”

BelieveHumansStillsLife IsPrayerImportanceSacredEverydayRitualSwearAgnosticTranscendentSabbathSacrednessOxymoron
Author:A. J. Jacobs
Create image

“Think of negative speech as verbal pollution. And that's what I've been doing: visualizing insults and gossip as a dark cloud, maybe one with some sulfur dioxide. Once you've belched it out, you can't take it back. As grandma said, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. The interesting this is, the less often I vocalize my negative thoughts, the fewer negative thoughts I cook up in the first place.”

IfsThinkingFirstsSaidDarkInterestingNiceSpeechNegativeCloudsCooksInsultGossipFewerPollutionSay AnythingGrandmaNegative ThoughtsVisualizingDark CloudsSulfur
Book:A.J. Jacobs Omnibus: The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, My Life as an Experiment
Create image

“The whole bible is the working out of the relationship between God and man. God is not a dictator barking out orders and demanding silent obedience. Were it so, there would be no relationship at all. No real relationship goes just one way. There are always two active parties. We must have reverence and awe for God, and honor for the chain of tradition. But that doesn't mean we can't use new information to help us read the holy texts in new ways.”

MenWayMeanTwoRealWholeHelpingUseWould BeOrderPartyInformationHonorHolyTraditionSilentWork OutActiveChainsOne WayObedienceJust OneAweReverenceDictatorNew WaysNew InformationReal Relationship
Author:A. J. Jacobs
Create image