Quotes from Jon Elster

The basic postulate from which I start is that the goal of the social sciences is the liberation of man.

In anger, my hostility is directed toward another's action and can be extinguished by getting even - an action that reestablishes the equilibrium.

Reduction is at the heart of progress in science.

Nothing is so unimpressive as behavior designed to impress

In another illustration of reactance, children (and adults too) may refuse all proposals about how to spend the day, even the one they prefer, because they do not want to feel imposed upon.

The intolerance of uncertainty and ignorance flows not only from pridefulness, but from a universal human desire to find meanings and patterns everywhere. The mind abhors a vacuum.