“The theme of Smith’s first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, was the innate honesty of mankind. “How selfish soever man may be supposed,” Smith wrote, “there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“Here is the broader point: whatever problem you're trying to solve, make sure you're not just attacking the noisy part of the problem that… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“Human beings, for all our accomplishments, can be fragile animals. Most of us don't take criticism well at all.” — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“The ECLS data do show, for instance, that a child with a lot of books in his home tends to test higher than a… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“In a complex world where people can be atypical in an infinite number of ways, there is great value in discovering the baseline. And… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“Morning robberies yield far more than afternoon robberies . . .' - When to Rob a Bank: A Rouge Economist's Guide to the World by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner” — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share
“The more complex a problem is, the harder it is to capture good feedback. You can gather a lot of facts, and that may… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“[...]if you are hoping to damage opponents' mental health, go ahead and tell them how inferior or dim-witted or nasty they are. But even if you are certifiably right on every point, you should not think for a minute that you will ever be able to persuade them. Name-calling will make you an enemy, not an ally, and if that… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share
“If asked how we'd behave in a situation that pits a private benefit against the greater good, most of us won't admit to favoring… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“The impulse to investigate can only be set free if you stop pretending to know answers that you don't. Because the incentives to pretend… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“From 2002 to 2008, the United States was fighting bloody wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; among active military personnel, there were an average 1,643 fatalities per year. But over the same stretch of time in the early 1980s, with the United States fighting no major wars, there were more than 2,100 military deaths per year. How can this possibly be?… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share
“But if you are hell-bent on persuading someone, or if your back is truly against the wall, you might as well give it your… — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
“Just because you're great at something doesn't mean you're good at everything.” — Steven D. Levitt Copy Share Image
