"Assigning central importance to the aesthetic in human experience may seem to be a radical inversion, placing what is usually considered secondary and peripheral at the center of the human world as its nourishing source. Isn’t this an ingenuous simplification of the vast range and complexity of experience?"

"The world suddenly opened up, and she was coming to new realizations and a greater awareness, concerning the nature of reality, and the world, which her mortal mind had previously been unable to conceive. She smiled her radiant goddess smile and began to laugh. Her omnipresent peals of mirth resonated through the forest, seeming to echo to the edges of the universe and back. She was getting her first glimpses of the world, seen through the eyes of a goddess; the first sweet tastes of a consciousness empowered beyond all human levels of comprehension, and her spirit was in exultant bliss."

"Whereas an Otaku is a true connoisseur of the culture, showing the same reverence and respectful distance which any true expert shows to their chosen field of expertise, the Weeaboo is like a socially awkward adolescent, ineptly trying to gain the social acceptance of Japanese people — because their unfortunate mental disorder has caused them to believe they are, in fact, Japanese."

"The highest privilege of being a writer is being able to say, "open your mind to me and I'll take you to another world.""

"People always knock what's new but I love the modern Internet, where cleverness is currency. Social media is a cleverness meritocracy. We're living in it."

"In our modern world, we look unkindly on mistakes and imperfection. But this is far from the samurai ideal. Mistakes are part of the learning process and if you haven't made them then you are, indeed, dangerous because it means you have never learned anything. Mistakes, to a samurai, are the proof of your learning."

"Everything can be summed up into an equation."

"They say sociopaths are dangerous because they know the subtleties of social interaction better than most people and they use this knowledge to use and exploit people. Well, it seems to me people with Asperger's are the opposite of sociopaths."

"When thoroughly reliable people encounter ghosts, their stories are difficult to explain away."

"A good yarn, an offbeat tale, a bloodcurdling ghost story -- they need no explanation or excuse for the telling!"

"Business is first, last, and always about people."

"Even the most mechanical organizations can design and deploy a people-centered culture, even if it happens one department at a time and takes a flying squirrel to champion the change."

"MR. PEABODY: "People who are content and confident in their work tend to be highly motivated and eminently more productive. They collaborate more freely with peers and colleagues, and cooperate better with those they report to..."

"As the leader, you must pay close attention to results and effort."

"You must be willing to reconcile any difference between who you really are, as evidenced by your words and deeds, and who you present yourself to be."

"Never l mind the stories of how one person, against all odds, proved the rest of the world wrong. Those things happen about as often as people are struck by lightning while cashing in their winning Lotto tickets."

"The more feedback you gather, the richer the data pool. The richer the data pool, the more willing you should be to toss your contradictory opinions out the window."

"Many people who avoid talking to one another are the people that need to be engaged in conversation the most."

"There is no question that How to Work for an Idiot: Survive and Thrive ... Without Killing Your Boss... is a subversive book. People will pick it up expecting a tasty blend of commiseration and advice. They will put it down thinking, to rephrase the famous line from the cartoon character Pogo, "We have met the idiot, and he is us.""

"Conversation sets the stage for the commitment and the covenant."

"One of the things [good] ringleaders encourage is the uncensored free-flow of information and ideas, both within their circles and within the biggest circle of all, the one drawn around the entire organization."

"If you are truly adverse to regular, meaningful conversation with your team members, you can skip straight to conflict."

"The organizational money chart enables people to isolate because they can always point upward when someone asks, “Who's in charge?” Over time, the motivation to do well dwindles."

"An absence of effective communication will ultimately lead to conflict."

"If compensation is merely tied to the organizational money chart, the real contributions of many in the organization are not being recognized or rewarded. Such neglect kills enthusiasm and effort."

"This reporter, who invited Dr. Hoover to lunch recently in hopes of learning definitive ways to spot idiots and thwart them before they do too much damage. She came away feeling like, well, an idiot. But not to worry: Dr. Hoover, who has a master's degree in family and marriage therapy and a doctorate in organizational dynamics, says idiotism is a treatable condition. He said his book... is as much a primer for I-Bosses as it is a balm for their beleaguered subordinates."

"It is much easier to address important issues if the conversation is continuous. Don’t take your team member by surprise. Catching someone off guard produces instant defensiveness."

"Organizations with traditional, Napoleonic, military-style hierarchies tend to remain static. To paraphrase Isaac Newton, organizations at rest tend to stay at rest."

"The cost of “downsizing,” “re-sizing,” or “right-sizing” eclipses what it would have cost to unleash the pent up leadership already inside the organization."

"We define substance abuse as throwing away substance in favor of a better-looking wrapper. Running off experienced people for cheaper labor makes as much sense as peeling a banana, throwing the fruit away, and eating the peel."

"Organizational performance, productivity, and profitability depend more on the emotional investment people have in meeting organizational objectives than any other factor."

"Most executives bring in a consultant or a new training program for course correction after they've steered the ship into an iceberg."

"Efficiency, productivity, and performance should always be priorities, through good times and bad."

"People participate fully, with the best they have, when they feel necessary to the outcome. People want to participate, but only if they'll feel good about what they're doing."

"The vast majority of your organization's leadership potential is probably locked up behind the bars of bureaucracy or staggering under the weight of organizational inertia. The cultural dragon you are fighting feeds on old school notions about leadership that grew out of a Napoleonic, hierarchical military organizational model."

"Hierarchical organizations are typically run by little Napoleons and Napoleonettes; especially at mid-organization level. A hierarchical organizational design draws leadership focus and energy away from problem solving and progressive thinking by encouraging those climbing the organizational food chain to focus instead on protecting their positions, perks, and territory."

"Whether you like it or not, any time two or more people get together to do anything, a culture emerges."

"When people's hopes and expectations are built up only to be demolished, they become a lot harder to motivate."

"People don't learn much about themselves or others while they're succeeding in spite of poor practices. When the real outcomes reflect the real work being done, the real learning begins."

"When leaders are separate and definitely not equal, they tend to become ensconced in corner offices, or at least offices with windows."

"If you are equally as emotionally needy as your Buddy Boss, it could be a marriage made in heaven, although I would rather go to another heaven."

"Deciding not to intentionally do things to shape your environment... will help bring about the environment you don't want. Inaction around the office is innocuous."

"Invite you Buddy Boss to everything. Share information openly... Request meetings. Beware of the confessional. Your Buddy Boss will devote endless hours to hearing your confessions and making hers to you - a potential disconnect from getting any appreciable work done. Set time limits."

"Paranoia can feed on itself and become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Paranoid Boss spends his energy searching out and exposing the conspiracy against him. The focus and leadership that should have been committed to departmental objectives is wasted and whole operation goes in the tank - thus confirming the paranoid boss's contention."

"If escaping your paranoid boss is not easy, keep your activities in plain site; copy your Paranoid Boss on everything; spend more time with him; share the knowledge, share secrets - some of your inner thoughts, within reason."

"Getting along with her requires ignoring everything you're being paid to do. Dedicated workers get hit the hardest because they must work nights and weekends to do the things they would have done. With luck, you might be transferred to an Idiot Boss."

"Masochistic Bosses make sure their departments fail so upper management will deal out punishment."

"Classical management theory would have us believe that the fastest way to get a square peg through a round hole is to use a bigger hammer."

"Telling Sadistic Bosses what they want to hear, like "...ouch," will only get them charged up to do more punishment... Try pretending you're a masochist. If your performance is convincing... you'll be out in a flash."