What the neurology tells us is that the self consists of many components, and the notion of one unitary self may well be an illusion.

Curiosity illuminates the correct path to anything in life. If you're not curious, that's when your brain is starting to die.

Your conscious life is an elaborate after-the-fact rationalization of things you really do for other reasons.

A culture without mythology is not really a civilisation.

People often ask how I got interested in the brain; my rhetorical answer is: 'How can anyone NOT be interested in it?' Everything you call 'human nature' and consciousness arises from it.

With the arrival of humans, it has been said, the universe has suddenly become conscious of itself. This, truly, it the greatest mystery of all.

Great art allows you to transcend your mortal frame and to reach for the stars. I think great science does the same thing.

Our ability to perceive the world around us seems so effortless that we tend to take it for granted.

The adage that fact is stranger than fiction seems to be especially true for the workings of the brain.

A genius is somebody who seemingly just reaches out of nowhere.

Remember that politics, colonialism, imperialism and war also originate in the human brain.

It really should be a criminal offense for an electrician to mount a breaker box on a bedroom wall. Unfortunately, I see the solar industry mounting inverters on bedroom walls also!

You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures

Sam said to me the other day, "I love you like 20 tyrannosauruses on 20 mountaintops," and this is the exact same way in which I love him.

I'll see you later, he says, and as he does, he runs his finger briefly over my wrist. It passes over me like air, and makes me shiver like a kiss.

We'll take what the other team gives us. We'll scratch where it itches.

I can't even say I've begun yet, but I'm trying on the idea that there is a book in my future.

Michael Jordan on his worst day is ten times better than Kobe Bryant on his best day.

The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart

I've always enjoyed reading history, particularly presidential biographies.

No one will be forced to take the public option. The word option means choice.