Jared Diamond Quotes

I'm very impatient. I am. That's the bane of my game. I don't think about what I'm going to do - I just go hit it, I don't stop to wait and think. Costs me two shots a round.

There is only one conflict, and that’s between short-term and long-term thinking.

When people think of the outcomes of their decisions, they think much more short term than that. They think in terms of gains and losses.

Most people lived their lives like criminals: act first, worry about the consequences later.

The problem with life is, we often do things that will ultimately be self-destructive and make us unhappy, yet in that moment it seems like the best idea in the world. You have to be careful of moments - they're tricksy things.

I was always the kid at school who thought it was a good idea to set off the fire alarm. And much as I'm aware that that's a trait which also propels other things which are good, I wish I could just pause and go, 'Is this really what you want to do?'

It seems that not being religious is a form of risk-taking, consistent with other patterns of short-sighted behaviour in men.

When you're 20, we all make stupid and impulsive decisions.

We smile at the ignorance of the savage who cuts down the tree in order to reach its fruit; but the same blunder is made by every person who is over eager and impatient in the pursuit of pleasure.

I ended up signing for IndyCar and it was a good decision. I should have waited another 10 days to actually talk to all of the teams, because I just went in, boom, I got the first offer and I said OK I'm racing. It's almost like it was the girlfriend just gives you a no and then you just get the next one that gives you a yes.

I don't think about consequences too much.

I make bad decisions frequently. They're fun.

My life philosophy and personality has been driven by the fact that I am incapable of really understanding the future, on some level. I am in this moment. I take risks because I really don't think that far ahead.

Most people are perpetually locked in the present. Their decisions are overly influenced by the most immediate event; they easily become emotional and ascribe greater significance to a problem than it should have in reality.

I dove into the craziness and did things that maybe I would think twice about when I get older.

Don't pass up something that's attractive today because you think you will find something way more attractive tomorrow.

Morrigan "Don't worry I'm following my instincts." Birkita "Perhaps you could find a way to prudently follow your instincts" Morrigan "I'm eighteen, nothing I do is prudent

I'm quite a compulsive person-I only worked this out recently - I'm compulsive, but I'm also very indecisive. I don't know what I want, but I know that I want it now.

One of the major biases in risky decision making is optimism. Optimism is a source of high-risk thinking.

The possibility of remedying imprudent actions is commonly an inducement to commit them.

Sometimes the best decisions in life are on the spur of the moment. So I generally try to do what I think is right. And sometimes I make mistakes.

When I was young and didn't have money, I liked gambling because winning and losing was fun for the rush of it. The amount of money that I would have to put down now to get that rush, there is no f'ing way I'm going to do it. It's just stupid. I would rather get that rush some other way.

Impulsive actions led to trouble, and trouble could have unpleasant consequences.

I wondered how many times in my life I had done something just because I wanted to without weighing the consequences.

Acting without thinking is like shooting without aiming.