"Attention rather than information becomes the scarce resource, and those who can distinguish valuable information from the background clutter gain power."

Joseph Nye Science See all quotes by Joseph Nye →

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More by Joseph Nye

“Cooperation is difficult in the absence of communication.”

“Power, like love, is easier to experience than to define or measure.”

“The international system consists not only of states. The international political system is the pattern of relationships among the states.”

“Some observers feel it is harder to change public opinion in democracies than it is to change policies in totalitarian countries.”

“Humans sometimes make surprising choices, and human history is full of uncertainties.”

“Any sense of global community is weak.”

Resonant Thoughts

"When the end comes, you will be esteemed by the world and rewarded by God, not because you have won the love and respect of the princes of the earth, however powerful, but rather for having loved, def…"

— Giordano Bruno

Science1548–1600

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"The weaker sex, to piety more prone"

— William Alexander

Politics1934

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"Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by …"

— Bertrand Russell

Philosophy1872–1970

#knowledge

"The art of resting is a part of the art of working. A man who is tired and greatly in need of rest cannot do any good work. We are all familiar with those terrible mornings after sleepless nights when…"

— André Maurois

opinion journalism1885–1967

#mind