Homo Deus

This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.

People are usually afraid of change because they fear the unknown. But the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes.

The most common reaction of the human mind to achievement is not satisfaction, but craving for more.

The greatest scientific discovery was the discovery of ignorance. Once humans realised how little they knew about the world, they suddenly had a very good reason to seek new knowledge, which opened up the scientific road to progress.

Religion is a deal, whereas spirituality is a journey.

In essence, terrorism is a show. Terrorists stage a terrifying spectacle of violence that captures our imagination and makes us feel as if we are sliding back into medieval chaos.

This is the paradox of historical knowledge. Knowledge that does not change behaviour is useless. But knowledge that changes behaviour quickly loses its relevance.