The New York Times:

if you’re going to ever think about buying lottery tickets, a moment like this — when the Powerball jackpot has reached remarkable highs — is the best possible time.

The biggest and most generally applicable reason buying lottery tickets is a non-terrible idea is this: It is fun to imagine one’s future after arriving at vast wealth.

I’ve always loved the Fran Leibowitz line of, “Your odds of winning the lottery are the same whether you play it or not.”