•  Shame is a shackle. Free yourself.

• Don’t worry about your abilities. You have the ability to love. That is enough.

• Technology won’t save humankind. Humans will.

• Be curious. Question everything. A present fact is just a future fiction.

Your life will have 25,000 days in it. Make sure you remember some of them.

• The road to snobbery is the road to misery. And vice versa.

• Tragedy is just comedy that hasn’t come to fruition. One day we will laugh at this. We will laugh at everything.

Wear clothes, by all means, but remember: they are clothes

•  One lifeform’s gold is another lifeform’s tin can.

Don’t worry about being angry. Worry when being angry becomes impossible. Because then you have been consumed.

• Happiness is not out here. It is in there.

New technology, on Earth, just means something you will laugh at in five years. Value the stuff you won’t laugh at in five years. Like love. Or a good poem. Or the sky.

• There is only one genre in fiction. The genre is called ‘book’.

If there is a sunset, stop and look at it. Knowledge is finite. Wonder is infinite.

Don’t aim for perfection. Evolution, and life, only happens through mistakes.

• Failure is a trick of the light.

• You are not the most intelligent creature in the universe. You are not even the most intelligent creature on your planet. The tonal language with the song of a humpback whale displays more complexity than the entire works of Shakespeare. It is not a competition. Well, it is. But don’t worry about it.

One day humans will live on Mars. But nothing there will be more exciting than a single overcast morning on Earth.

Don’t always try and be cool. The whole universe is cool. It’s the warm bits that matter.

• Walt Whitman was right about at least one thing. You will contradict yourself. You are large. You contain multitudes.

• No-one is ever completely right about anything. Anywhere.

Everyone is a comedy. If people are laughing at you they just don’t quite understand the joke that is themselves.

• Your brain is open. Never let it be closed.

• In a thousand years, if human’s survive that long, everything you know will have been disproved. And replaced by even bigger myths.

• Everything matters.

You have the power to stop time. You do it by kissing. Or listening to music. Music, by the way, is how you see things you can’t otherwise see. It is the most advanced thing you have. It is a super-power. Keep up with the bass guitar. You are good at it. Join the band.

• A paradox. The things you don’t need to live – books, art, cinema, literature, wine and so on – are the things you need to live.

• A cow was a cow even if you call it beef.

No two moralities match. Accept different shapes, so long as they aren’t sharp enough to hurt.

At some point, bad things are going to happen. Have someone to hold onto.

Don’t ever be afraid of telling someone you love them. There are things wrong with your world, but an excess of love is not one.

• You are not the only species on Earth with technology. Look at ants. Really. Look. What they do with twigs and leaves is quite amazing.

• Your mother loved your father. Even if she pretends she didn’t.

• There are a lot of idiots in your species. Lots and lots. You are not one of them. Hold your ground.

• It is not the length of life that matters. It’s the depth. But while burrowing, keep the sun above you.

• Numbers are pretty. Prime numbers are beautiful. Understand that.

Obey your head. Obey your heart. Obey your gut. In fact, obey everything except commands.

• One day, if you get into a position of power, tell people this: just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should. There is a power and a beauty in unproved conjectures, unkissed lips and unpicked flowers.

• Start fires. But only metaphorically. Unless you are cold and it’s a safe setting. In which case: start fires.

• It’s not the technique, it’s the method. It’s not the words, it’s the melody.

• Be alive. That is your supreme duty to the world.

Don’t think you know. Know you think.

• War is the answer. To the wrong question.

• Physical attraction is, primarily, glandular.

Matter is an illusion. Everything is silicon. But your emotions? They’re solid.

• It’s not you. It’s them. (No, really. It is.)

• Most humans don’t think about things very much. They survive by thinking about needs and wants alone. But you are not one of those. Be careful.

• No-one will understand you. That is not, ultimately, that important. What is important is that you understand you.

• A quark is not the smallest thing. The smallest thing is the regret you will feel on your deathbed for not having worked more.

• Politeness is often fear. Kindness is always courage. But caring is what makes you human. Care more, become more human.

• In your mind, change the name of every day to Saturday. And change the name of work to play.

• When you watch the news, and see members of your species in turmoil, do not think there is nothing you can do. But know it is not done by watching news.

You get up. You put on your clothes. And then you put on your personality. Choose wisely.

• Language is euphemism. Love is truth.

You can’t find happiness looking for the meaning of life. Meaning is only the third most important thing. It comes after loving and being.

If you think something is ugly, look harder. Ugliness is just a failure of seeing.

• A watched pot never boils. That is all you need to know about quantum physics.

• The Dark Ages never ended. (But don’t tell your mother).

To like something is to insult it. Love it or hate it. Be passionate. As civilisation advances, so does indifference. It is a disease. Immunise yourself with art. And love.

Dark matter is needed to hold galaxies together. Your mind is a galaxy. More dark than light. But the light makes it worthwhile.

• Which is to say: don’t kill yourself. Even when the darkness is total. Always know that life is not still. Time is space. You are moving through that galaxy. Wait for the stars.

• At the sub-atomic level, everything is complex. But do not live at the sub-atomic level. You have the right to simplify. If you don’t, you will go insane.

But know this. Men are not from Mars. Women are not from Venus. Do not fall for categories. Everyone is everything. Every ingredient inside a star is inside you, and every personality that ever existed competes in the theatre of your mind for the main role.

• You are lucky to be alive. Inhale and take in life’s wonders. Never take so much as a single petal of a single flower for granted.

• Your mother told me a story once, about your uncle. It made me think. If you have children and love one more than another, work at it. They will know, even if it’s by a single atom less. A single atom is all you need to make a very big explosion.

• School is a joke. But go along with it, because you are very near to the punchline.

You don’t have to be an academic. You don’t have to be anything. Don’t force it. Feel your way, and don’t stop feeling your way until something fits. Maybe nothing will. Maybe you are a road, not a destination. That is fine. Be a road. But make sure its one with something to look at out of the window.

Be kind to your mother. And try and make her happy.

Book summary and review : 

"The Humans" is a novel written by British author Matt Haig. The story follows an alien who takes on the identity of a mathematics professor in order to carry out a mission on Earth. Through his journey, the alien learns about humanity and its complexities, eventually leading him to question his own beliefs and values.

The book begins with the alien, known only as "The Visitor," taking over the body and life of Professor Andrew Martin, who has made a breakthrough in mathematics that could change the course of human history. The Visitor's mission is to eliminate any trace of this discovery and prevent it from reaching the rest of the universe.

As The Visitor tries to carry out his mission, he struggles to understand the strange and often irrational behavior of humans. He encounters Martin's wife and son, as well as his colleagues and students, and begins to see the beauty in human relationships and emotions.

Throughout the book, Haig provides a satirical commentary on human society, including its obsession with wealth and status, as well as its treatment of those who are different. The Visitor's observations on human behavior are often humorous, but also poignant, as he begins to see the flaws in his own society and the ways in which they are similar to those of humans.

Haig's writing is both witty and insightful, and his exploration of humanity is thought-provoking. The book raises questions about the meaning of life, the importance of human connection, and the role of science and technology in society.

Overall, "The Humans" is a touching and insightful novel that will make readers laugh, cry, and contemplate their own existence. It's a must-read for anyone who is interested in science fiction, philosophy, or just a good story

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