Quotes from Jon Winokur

Both humans and dogs love to play well into adulthood, and individuals from both species occasionally display evidence of having a conscience.

NOCEBO: Latin for "I will harm"; a negative placebo; physical manifestation of pessimism; self-fulfilling prophecy of disbelief. In the nocebo effect, a bad result occurs without any physiological bias. In one study, women who believed they were more prone to heart disease were four times more likely to die of it than women with the same risk factors but without a pessimistic outlook.

SITUATIONAL INTIMACY: Intimacy generated by a shared situation rather than a romantic or familial relationship, as when random train or airliner seatmates share their innermost secrets.

GRUBELEIEN: German word for a not entirely unpleasant form of brooding; a sort of inward directed schadenfreude, i.e., perverse delight in one's own troubles

HOLLOW-TOOTH SYNDROME: Compulsion to torture oneself mentally, based on the fact that nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

AMBIENT FEAR: background anxiety of everyday life

KVETCH:(Yiddish) verb: to gripe or fret; noun: a chronic complainer, a whiner

PRONOIA: The irrational belief that people like you

BYSTANDER EFFECT: Phenomenon documented by social scientists in which people are less likely to help someone in distress when there are others present who can render assistance

TUCKE DES OBJEKTS, DIE: Literally "the malice of things," the sneaking dread that machines are biding their time until they can turn on us and take over the world.

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem: they know how it's done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves.

They give unconditional love and undying loyalty in return for regular meals and an occasional pat on the head.