" For a moment, we all just stared out the window at the crowds. “I’m reading a good book now,” Obama said. “It reminds you, the ability to tell stories about who we are is what makes us different from animals. We’re just chimps without it.” He described how all civilization, religion, nations were rooted in stories, which could be harnessed for good or bad. Obama’s tendency to take the long view was getting even more pronounced in his last year in office. But in his own way, he was also telling me that everything was okay, that this was now just one more subject in our endless conversation about everything.
“What’s the book?” I asked, looking for something to grab on to.
“It’s called Sapiens. You should check it out.” Perhaps sensing that this was sensitive terrain, he changed the subject. "

― Ben Rhodes , The World As It Is: Inside the Obama White House