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The real point is that unless we improve the attractiveness of distant gratification, it doesn’t stand a chance of competing with instant gratification.

— Harold Lewis Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

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Source and credibility

Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Chapter 13, “Protecting the Future” (p. 91)
Work: Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions, 1997
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Harold Lewis

The fact that self-interest can work against the common good is far-reaching, and no general solution is known.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

Money is a society’s effort to reduce everything to a common measure, and get us away from trading clamshells for pottery.

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Decision making by large groups can never lead to venturesome decisions.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

The better is the worst enemy of the plenty good enough.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

No one should be embarrassed at having to look things up in a book—it’s a great habit to develop.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

It is fashionable in modern America to sneer at mathematics, nowhere more so than in sports.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

Humans are not as different from other animals as we sometimes wish.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

It doesn’t matter what the winners do when elected—the promise gets them the job, memories are short, and incumbency leads to tenure.

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More quotes by Harold Lewis

Despite the babbling of the creationists, evolution is inevitable in a competitive world, and it does work.

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Philosophy is the misuse of a terminology which was invented for just this purpose.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

People who claim there is no such thing as native intelligence are nuts.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

Someone once said that he had made many mistakes in life, but never because he knew too much.

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It is a fallacy of human perception to see patterns that aren’t there, and to see order where there is none.

Why Flip a Coin? The Art and Science of Good Decisions (1997)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Harold Lewis (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.