Look, I got vaccinated ... Here's the deal, guys, I'll get the vaccine; you fucking leave me alone. And did that work? No, so stupid me. That's how I feel about it.

Don't underestimate the hole your absence would leave ... Each of us, we're remarkable creatures, and we have something to offer to the world, to the people we love, to the world at large. It's our responsibility to make that manifest, and we move a little farther away from paradise every time that doesn't happen. Really, really.

I think it's useful to draw a distinction between thinking and paying attention. If you're thinking, you're kind of walking down a programmatic trail. If you're paying attention, you just open your eyes and let your mind go where it will, and ideas will occur to you. They'll pop up in your field of consciousness, and for me, that's often informative.

It's a failing of our education system that literacy isn't marketed properly to young men ... Straighten up, speak properly, write. Learn to write. Why? Because that's the same as learning to think. And why should you think? Well, because you won't do as many stupid things and your horizons will widen.

One thing I can say about abortion that I think would generate no objection is you wouldn't give one to your sister for a present, right? So, whatever it is, it's not desirable, and how not desirable it is at minimum open to question.

I don't think there's any such thing as a casual sexual relationship. I don't believe that. I've never seen any evidence that that's the case ... People rationalize that constantly because they want to believe... that short-term hedonistic gratification is ethically acceptable, and I don't think it is.

I'm vaccinated for what it's worth, and I'm not stating that it's some badge of moral superiority, but... it seems to me that the right policy move is 'Here's the vaccines, they're available, we're opening up, take your chances, and away we go, and let's get back to our free life.'

I certainly don't understand the push to get children vaccinated ... I think that's absolutely reprehensible.

Resentment tells you one of two things: One is that someone's treading on your territory and something needs to be done about it, or that you need to grow the hell up and stop complaining ... It isn't necessarily obvious, when you feel resentful, which of those it is, but you need to figure it out.

In most places, and I've had a lot of jobs... In 90% of those places, if you were honest and you worked hard and you were reliable and you weren't above the job, then doors would open to you—and a lot faster than you think ... It's especially the case in our culture because our culture is actually based on competence. If you're reliable and honest and a hard worker and your eyes are open and you're grateful for what you've got, you can advance very rapidly.

The next pandemic worries me, too, because we've now we've established a precedent, which is, if the health risk is severe enough, then your civil liberties are optional.

Make a plan. Look at what you're interested in. Get disciplined about something. Allow for the possibility that you have something important to contribute to the world and that the world would be a lesser place without that contribution.

There is nothing that will make you more powerful than your words ... If you think that reading and writing is for pansies and dimwits, you know, or teacher's pets because they get in less trouble in school, let's say, you're seriously misinformed.

Whatever the 'environment' is ... I don't even know what that is. That's everything, the environment. 'I'm concerned about the environment.' How is that different than saying 'I'm worried about everything.' How are those statements different semantically?

People wonder why I engage in conflict. I hate conflict, and I find it very stressful, but conflict delayed is conflict multiplied.

I don't think the evidence that... vaccinated people are less contagious, let's say, I don't think it's very compelling.

I don't think there is such a thing as casual sex. I think that's indistinguishable from masturbation, which I also don't regard as a particularly heroic act.

You're not going to find something more valuable in your life than a committed relationship with someone that you love that sustains itself across time and that, in all likelihood, produces children. That's life.

One of the most ancient of religious ideas that emerges everywhere... is that life is essentially suffering. And what that means is that people are fragile and vulnerable and mortal and prone to physical decay and mental illness and to a fair share of malevolence as well. We're fragile creatures. And that means that life is hard and painful and anxiety-provoking. And you need something to set against that that's worthwhile, and that's... your positive destiny in the world.

It's so preposterous all of that, everything that's happened to Rogan, all this idiocy around race, this insistence that we can be reduced to our race, our ethnicity, our sexual identity. It's so appalling, and it's so destructive.

If things aren't going well for you, then I would say: Start fixing the little things that are in front of you that you can fix and don't stop ... Try it for a year. Try it for two years—really dedicate yourself to it.

Well, everyone knows life is hard. And it's not just hard; it can be unbearably hard. And it's worse than hard because, sometimes, the hardship is inflicted upon you by yourself, or by someone close to you, or sometimes by an enemy, or sometimes by a friend—you get betrayed. And it's not just that it's hard, you're also subject to evil, you're subject to malevolence, and that makes it even worse—and everyone knows this. You need something to set against that. You need a noble way of being to set against that.

Things are way better than anybody thinks. We have a glorious future in front of it us if we want to. The best way to save the planet is to make poor people rich as fast as we possibly can.

People who are less verbally sophisticated are more likely to gravitate towards all-encompassing simple theories—because of course they are.

I don't care how tough you are physically; you're nowhere near as tough as you would be if you were physically tough and really literate. And then you're an unstoppable force—and hopefully for good.

Every time you make a status shift as you move upwards, of course you have imposter syndrome, because when you first make a transition into a new role, you are an imposter—because you're a beginner. You don't know what you're doing.

You can't have a relationship without trust. And you trust your partner courageously if you're not naive, knowing that you can be hurt and that you can be deceived and that you can also do both of those things. So, you offer your partner your trust as an invitation to them to be honest and forthcoming...

Here's a cool little fact ... As carbon dioxide levels rise, plants can grow in drier environments.

If you don't have the courage to commit a crime, it doesn't mean you're moral for not doing it; it just means you're afraid.

I don't think it's unreasonable to point out that pursuing a career and a family is more difficult for women than it is for men.