A 2002 Oxford study showed counting sheep actually delays the onset of sleep. It's just too dull to stop us from worrying about jobs and spouses

— A.J. Jacobs

Each cherry took about three seconds to eat. Three seconds to eat, but at least five years in the making. It seemed unfair to the hard-working cherry tree. The least I could do was to devote my attention to the cherry in those three seconds, really appreciate the tartness of the skin and the faint crunching sound when I bite down. I guess it's called mindfulness. Or being at the moment, or making the mundane sacred. Whatever it is, I'm doing it more. Like the ridiculously extended thank-you list for my hummus, the fruit taboo made me more aware of the whole cherry process, the seed, the soil, the five years of watering and waiting. That's the paradox: I thought religion would make me live with my head in the clouds, but as often as not, it grounds me in this world.

— A.J. Jacobs

G-rated language is making me a less angry person. Behavior shapes emotion.

— A.J. Jacobs

I can’t help but notice that you keep writing love poetry to my wife. Well, you see, I married her, which makes her my wife. You know what you might want to try? Writing some poems about the sunset. The sunset isn’t fucking married.

— A.J. Jacobs

I find placebos uplifting and exhilarating. It means that taking action--no matter what the action is--might help you feel better.

— A.J. Jacobs

I found myself speaking more slowly (in an attempt to obey the Bible in speech), as if I was speaking French instead of English.

— A.J. Jacobs

I know that you should eat a lot of the Indian spice turmeric, as it fights cancer. Also, that you should avoid the Indian spice turmeric, as it might contain dangerous levels of lead. One or the other.

— A.J. Jacobs

I like uncovering the cultural prejudices I didn't even know.

— A.J. Jacobs

I'm Jewish in the way Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.

— A.J. Jacobs

I think there's something to the idea that the divine dwells more easily in text than in images. Text allows for more abstract thought, more of a separation between you and the physical world, more room for you and God to meet in the middle. I find it hard enough to conceive of an infinite being. Imagine if those original scrolls came in the form of a graphic novel with pictures of the Lord? I'd never come close to communing with the divine.

— A.J. Jacobs