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The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics

Book by Steven E. Landsburg · 3 quotes · Baking, Clowns, Economics

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The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics Quotes

“If you bake a cupcake, the world has one more cupcake. If you become a circus clown, the world has one more squirt of seltzer down someone's pants. But if you win an Olympic gold medal, the world will not have one more Olympic gold medalist. It will just have you instead of someone else.”

“Colleges should offer lots of optional life-enriching experiences, like intramural basketball and a place to sunbathe. But reading books, like basketball or sunbathing, is a leisure activity, neither more nor less admirable than any other, and colleges should not pretend otherwise.”