Scott Alexander Quotes & Sayings

The wages of sin is Death." Gotcha! The wages of everything is Death! This is a Communist universe, the amount you work makes no difference to your eventual reward. From each according to his ability, to each Death. — Scott Alexander

The best way to make happy money is to make money your hobby and not your god. — Scott Alexander

A rhinoceros charges with singleness of purpose. All energy is directed toward the attainment of one burning desire. The reason you are so dangerous is that once you set yourself charging at something, nothing can distract you. And you never charge two things at once. You concentrate on getting your first target and then you fix your concentration on your next goal. Never spread yourself thin. A magnifying glass will not start a fire until it remains in one spot continuously for a certain length of time. If it is constantly moved from spot to spot, nothing will get warmed up, much less start a fire. — Scott Alexander

It turned out keeping reality bound by mathematical laws was a useful hack preventing the Devil from existing. — Scott Alexander

Seen from Earth, a comet is a prodigy, coming out of the void for no reason, returning to the void for no reason. They call it unpredictable because they cannot predict it. From the comet's own point of view, nothing could be simpler. It starts in the outer darkness, aims directly at the sun, and never stops till it gets there. Everything else spins in its same orbit forever. The comet heads for the source. They call it crooked because it is too straight. They call it unpredictable because it is too fixed. They call it chaotic because it is too linear. — Scott Alexander

Making money is a hobby that will complement any other hobbies you have, beautifully. — Scott Alexander

I love you," said Bekka.

"I know," I said.

"I know you know," she said. "But I didn't know that you knew I knew you knew. And now I do. — Scott Alexander

The basic rule of free enterprise: You must give in order to get. — Scott Alexander

All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy. — Scott Alexander