Here's another installment of rationality quotes. The usual rules apply:
- Please post all quotes separately, so that they can be upvoted or downvoted separately. (If they are strongly related, reply to your own comments. If strongly ordered, then go ahead and post them together.)
- Do not quote yourself.
- Do not quote from Less Wrong itself, Overcoming Bias, or HPMoR.
- No more than 5 quotes per person per monthly thread, please.
It seems to me personally like the much more rational quote would be "He who is firm in will molds himself to the world."
There is a sense in which that is true, but unfortunately it is very close in concept space to a less rational message. Once one has already internalised the notion and intent to optimise the world according to one's preferences by any means necessary then it is a critical additional insight that one must do so by adapting to the universe that is and choosing the most effective actions within that context. Without the proactive intent already firmly in place the advice to mold oneself to the world could be misleading.