People consider the harms they inflict to be justified and forgettable, and the harms they suffer to be unprovoked and grievous.

Art works because it appeals to certain faculties of the mind. Music depends on details of the auditory system, painting and sculpture on the visual system. Poetry and literature depend on language.

Why are empirical questions about how the mind works so weighted down with political and moral and emotional baggage?

All our behaviours are a result of neurophysiological activity in the brain. There is no reason to believe there is any magic going on.

I suspect music is auditory cheesecake, an exquisite confection crafted to tickle the sensitive spots of... our mental faculties.

Evolutionary psychology is one of four sciences that are bringing human nature back into the picture.

Thanks to the redundancy of language, yxx cxn xndxrstxnd whxt x xm wrxtxng xvxn xf x rxplxcx xll thx vxwxls wxth xn "x" (t gts lttl hrdr f y dn't vn kn whr th vwls r)

Photography is a kind of virtual reality, and it helps if you can create the illusion of being in an interesting world.

Plants can't very well defend themselves by their behavior, so they resort to chemical warfare, and plants are saturated with toxins and irritants to deter creatures like us who want to eat them.

I would argue that nothing gives life more purpose than the realization that every moment of consciousness is a precious and fragile gift.

Babies are born with the instinct to speak, the way spiders are born with the instinct to spin webs. You don't need to train babies to speak; they just do. But reading is different.

Liberals seem to assume that, if you don’t believe in their particular political solutions, then you don’t really care about the people that they claim to want to help.

When you're an agent or a lawyer; its about service, not for yourself, but for your clients

In playing the part of Mammy, I tried to make her a living, breathing character, the way she appeared to me in the book

I guarantee you it will not be anyone from the outside.

I don't believe in princerple, But oh I du in interest.

Why do you have to break up with her? Be a man. Just stop calling.

In 50 years, there will be only 10 institutions in the world delivering higher education and Udacity has a shot at being one of them.

The hardest part is starting. Once you get that out of the way, you'll find the rest of the journey much easier.

I have to be pretty inclusive. I have to be pretty much inside of me rather than going out and finding out what people are doing. I don't have the time to. I just listen to my mind, in a way.

If we don't start, it's certain we can't arrive.