Quotes from Derren Brown

The sign of the true expert is his modest awareness of how much more there is to know;

Anger certainly seems to have an evolutionary basis. It serves a social purpose: displays of anger encourage others to change their behaviour and thus work to stop people transgressing societal rules that keep us cohabiting comfortably. If we neither felt nor exhibited annoyance, we would become 'slavish', in Aristotle's words, and an easy target for exploitation

WE GENERALLY FEEL defined by our past. Our past, however, is a story that we tell ourselves in the present.

We are, each of us, a product of the stories we tell ourselves.

Believe in yourself, blame yourself

Alan Watts, who gave us the image of trying to wrap up water with string, made the point that it is absurd to work at something you don't enjoy, purely to make more money to be able to live longer and continue doing something you don't like.

The Greeks understood this relationship between man and the machinations of the universe. Their tragedies taught us that we need to learn raw humility in the fickle face of fate. Tragic heroes marched out into the world full of pride, biased vision and a mighty capacity for self-deception. Fate ultimately brought them to their knees. The lesson for us is not that we are doomed but that we must reassess the control we think we wield.

You should live in the moment' is as unhelpful an imperative as 'You should believe in yourself and secure the future you want'. The only 'should' we need ever take on board is that we 'should' get on with our lives without hurting other people.

one of the first light bulbs ever manufactured remains lit, over a hundred years after it was first switched on.

If magic exploits our capacity to continuously, unconsciously modify events in the ongoing world to form a story, even at the expense of everything we know to be possible in the universe, then we are indeed master editors, tirelessly working to communicate to others and ourselves a meaningful tale.

People, in relation to each other and their environments, can unwittingly create moments of poetry.

When I carry out my novice efforts to capture these, I feel both detached from the world (as any observer might do - especially when looking at it through a viewfinder) yet feel very connected to people around me. I am paying far more attention to them than normal; I'm far more interested in life. I'm attracted to people and the snapshots of life that show through their postures and faces.

My normal, regrettable practice of minimal eye contact and uncharitable pigeonholing is suspended in favor of a real fascination with everything human.

Each piece of exhibited, unconscious body language was an affecting window into private motivations and the delict ballet of the particular interactions in which they found themselves.

Plan for success; prepare for failure. And the universe doesn't care either way.

Let's not mince words: if we are ill, or a loved one dies, this is ultimately a matter of no importance to fate and the machinations of the universe.

We may owe Superman and E.T. to Jewish film directors, but there's no doubting that it's the Christian story we're being told.)

By projecting ourselves always into the hereafter we miss out on the present, on knowing ourselves and the richness of the current moment. By trying to control what we can't, we all but guarantee frustration and disappointment.

How often do parents nostalgically reflect on their children when they were younger? It is easy to look at photographs and miss those cute, plump-faced, miniature versions of the gawky and resentful specimens they have become.

As priorities change, regrets may surface. Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse working in palliative care, recorded what she perceived to be the top five regrets of the dying. They were: I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. I wish I hadn't worked so hard. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.

whether it concerns the things which are in our control, or those which are not; and, if it concerns anything not in our control, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

I'd rather cut off my own balls with blunt bacon scissors than host a dinner party.

It's a wonderful bonus to do what one enjoys, but it's not necessary. Far more important is knowing how to navigate the difficulties and disappointments in life and work, without setting up a romantic ideal of a 'perfect' job;