“The idea of autonomy denies that we are born into a world that existed prior to us. It posits an essential aloneness;… — Matthew B. Crawford Freedom Copy Share Image
“When the point of education becomes the production of credentials rather than the cultivation of knowledge, it forfeits the motive recognized by… — Matthew B. Crawford College Copy Share Image
“The satisfactions of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been known to make a man quiet and easy.… — Matthew B. Crawford Pride Copy Share Image
“I used to try to hypnotize myself into a Zen-like state of resignation at the outset. It doesn't work, not for this… — Matthew B. Crawford Copy Share Image
“...an external reward can affect one's interpretation of one's own motivation, and interpretation that comes to be self-fulfilling. A similar effect may… — Matthew B. Crawford Making money Copy Share Image
“...if we follow the traces of our own actions to their source, they intimate some understanding of the good life. This understanding… — Matthew B. Crawford Communication Copy Share Image
“I was nearing a familiar point where I’ve descended through every level of madness and despair, and a certain calm takes over.… — Matthew B. Crawford Long ago Copy Share Image
“The truth about idiocy... is that it is at once an ethical and cognitive failure... The Greek idios means 'private,' and idiotes… — Matthew B. Crawford English words Copy Share Image
“The lover of excellence is prone to being drawn out of himself, erotically almost, in a way that the universalist egalitarian is… — Matthew B. Crawford Copy Share Image
“I did not even look at the scoreboard when my routine was done in 1976. My teammates started pointing because there was… — Matthew B. Crawford Habits Copy Share Image
“There is a classic psychology experiment that seems to confirm Brewer's point. Children who enjoy drawing were given marker pens and allowed… — Matthew B. Crawford Ahead of time Copy Share Image
“Stripped of the kind of judgments that are at the very heart of the idea of "credit", shot through with bad faith,… — Matthew B. Crawford Rest of life Copy Share Image
“...it is often the case that when things get really hairy, you want an experienced human being in control. The preference for… — Matthew B. Crawford Wrong conclusion Copy Share Image
“We're not as free and independent as we thought. Street-level work that disrupts the infrastructure (the sewer system below or the electrical… — Matthew B. Crawford Different world Copy Share Image
“His treatment of mechanical problems wasn't divorced from the worldly situations in which they arise, and as a result [John Muir's service… — Matthew B. Crawford John Muir Copy Share Image
“the goodness of money floats free of any particular evaluations that could engage our attention and energize our activity.” — Matthew B. Crawford Money Copy Share Image
“When Jessica DuLong describes her work in the engine room of the John J. Harvey, you can practically feel the throb of… — Matthew B. Crawford Books Copy Share Image
“Both as workers and as consumers, we feel we move in channels that have been projected from afar by vast impersonal forces.… — Matthew B. Crawford Meaning Copy Share Image
“For humans, tools point to the necessity of moral inquiry. Because nature makes only ambiguous prescriptions for us, we are compelled to… — Matthew B. Crawford Character Copy Share Image
