“Destiny was apparently a word describing an individual’s desperate need for certainty.”

“A metaphor is a sign of desperation when we need another world to describe what we are feeling. Metaphors are about desperation and safety. We call out to metaphor because a metaphor makes us feel safe.”

“It was around 1910/11 that everyone, at every level of the social scale, became aware of those apparent eccentricities that were challenging the precarious certainties of the world. And it was uniquely the painting of a group, not of an individual, that was the cause.”

“Creativity could be described as letting go of certainties.”

“What we need now is the description of the “describer” or, in other words, we need a theory of the observer.”

“Feeling lost, crazy and desperate belongs to a good life as much as optimism, certainty and reason.”

“His destiny had betrayed him, had made him a destroyer on a scale that humbled even Caine. Destiny, he understood with bitter certainty, could not be trusted.”

“I wonder whether there is such a thing as a sense of individuality. Is it all a facade, covering a deep need to belong? Are we simply pack animals desperately trying to pretend we are not?”

“If this is not what springs immediately to mind as soon as the words “on average” are appended to a description of mean differences, then the words “on average” have not rectified the damage done by the use of means to describe populations of varied individuals.”

“By 'trading' (i. e. pooling), individuals can acquire certainty.”