“I've always seen myself as a winner, even as a kid. If I hadn't, I just might have gone down the drain a couple of times. I've got something inside of me, peasantlike and stubborn, and I'm in it 'til the end of the race.” IfsEndsMightKidsRaceGoneCoupleSelf ConfidenceWinnerStubbornDrains Author:Truman Capote
“Pompey had fought brilliantly and in the end routed Caesar's whole force... but either he was unable to or else he feared to push on. Caesar [said] to his friends: 'Today the enemy would have won, if they had had a commander who was a winner.'” IfsSaidEndsWholeTodayForceEnemyWinnerCommandersPompey Author:Plutarch
“The problem I have with socialist utopias is there's some kind of committees trying to soften outcomes for people. I think that imposes models of outcomes for other people's lives. So in a spiritual sense there's some bit of libertarian in me. But the critical thing for me is moderation. And if you let that go far you do end up with a winner-take-all society that ultimately crushes everybody even worse.” PeopleIfsThinkingTryingKindEndsProblemSpiritualBitsModelsCriticalLibertarianWinnerOutcomesCrushSocialistCommitteesModerationUtopia Author:Jaron Lanier
“When you're reading a novel, I think the reason you care about how any given plot turns out is that you take it as a data point in the big story of how the world works. Does such-and-such a kind of guy get the girl in the end? Does adultery ever bring happiness? How do winners become winners?” ThinkingWorldKindDoeBookEndsReasonStoriesBigsCareGuyTurnsGirlReadingGivenNovelDataWinnerPlotAdultery Author:Elif Batuman