Kicking the ball straight at the goalkeeper? That just seems unnatural; an obvious violation of common sense – but then so did the idea of preventing a disease by injecting people with the very microbes that cause it.
-- Authors (chapter 1 paragraph 22)

Importance: The authors are explaining why the unexpected resolution, the solution that seems most remote, is sometimes the best solution.

When people don’t pay the true cost of something, they tend to consume it inefficiently.
-- Authors (chapter 2 paragraph 70)

Importance: In trying to advise David Cameron, British Prime Minister-elect, on ways to fix the economy, they focused on Great Britain’s free health care system. The prices had doubled over a decade due in part to “well” people going to the doctor because it was free.

It is the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ.
-- Dr. Roger Bannister (chapter 3 paragraph 47)

Importance: Dr. Bannister is a famed neurologist and the first human to run the mile in less than four...