Latest A. J. Jacobs Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• One of the interesting things to me is that God grows throughout the Old Testament. He evolves, sort of matures, and becomes kinder.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Interesting, Old Testament, Evolve

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

• Since I was relatively new to the Bible, I was surprised by the Old Testament God. He's wrathful, but at other times, He's incredibly compassionate. He's not a one-dimensional figure at all.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Old Testament, Figures, Compassionate

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

• I love to live things, so I wanted to immerse myself and get into the mindset - and sandals - of my forefathers.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Mindset, Sandals, Wanted

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

• I found there were things about religion that I really loved; things like the sense of gratefulness that it brings.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Gratefulness, Found

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

• I grew up in a very secular home with no religion at all, so I was starting from zero.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Zero, Home, Grew Up

  Source: www.omnivoracious.com

• I don't believe that prayers actually change God's mind - if there is a God - but I liked praying for people in need. It was like moral weightlifting. I tend to be self-obsessed, and it was nice to get out of my brain once in a while.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Prayer, Nice, Believe

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• The Bible improved my ethical IQ. I started to act like a good person. I tried not to gossip, and lie, and covet, and just by pretending I was a good person, I think I actually became a little bit better of a person. I'm not Gandhi or Angelina Jolie, but it was a baby step.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Baby, Lying, Thinking

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• After a while, if you're committed, you start to believe in the things in which you're praying. It's just cognitive dissonance. You can't live a completely religious life and not start to have it sink in.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Religious, Believe, Cognitive Dissonance

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• It's hard to be in a bad mood when you're walking around looking like you're about to play the semifinals at Wimbledon.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Play, Bad Mood, Wimbledon

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 09, 2007.

• There's a lot of food restriction in the Bible, but it does say you're allowed to eat crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. I decided to take advantage of that and eat a cricket. It was chocolate-covered, and I'm not sure that's the way they were served in Moses' time. But this was a rule that seemed crazy on the outside, then actually turned out to be pragmatic and compassionate.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Crazy, Chocolate, Doe

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• When I went to Israel, it was a little disorienting, because there are so many people who look crazy and were dressed like me. There, I was just one of the apocalyptic crowd.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Crazy, Israel, People

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• The Bible talks a lot about thankfulness, and I'm more thankful than I ever was. I try to concentrate on the hundreds of things that go right in a day, instead of the three or four that go wrong.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Thankfulness, Trying, Three

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• When I was with the serpent-handlers in Tennessee, it was the most bizarre method of worship I could think of. Yet when you sit with these people, you can kind of see how it makes sense.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Thinking, People, Tennessee

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• I thought religion would eventually wither away and we'd all be worshiping at the altar of science.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Altars

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• I got a sense of the amazingness of ordinary life, and I became aware of the marvel that we're around to begin with. I visited a lot of extreme communities, like the Amish, Hasidic Jews, and serpent-handlers. And I was proud, because I think I'm the first person to ever out-Bible-talk a Jehovah's Witness. After four hours, he said, "Okay, I have to go."

  A. J. Jacobs

  Thinking, Community, Proud

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• I'm all for cafeteria religion. I think there's nothing wrong with cafeterias - I've had some great meals at cafeterias. I've also had some horrible meals, so it's important to pick the right things. Take a heaping helping of compassion and mercy, and leave the intolerance on the table.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Thinking, Compassion, Important

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• Behavior shapes beliefs.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Shapes, Belief, Behavior

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.

• Taking the Bible too literally is a mistake. It should be read as a guidebook of wisdom and insight.

  A. J. Jacobs

  Mistake, Should, Insight

  Interview with Jason Albert, www.avclub.com. November 9, 2007.