As for the presence of large NGF [nerve growth factor] sources in snake venom and male genital organs, they may be conceived as instances of bizarre evolutionary gene expression.

Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them

I tell young people: Do not think of yourself, think of others. Think of the future that awaits you, think about what you can do and do not fear anything.

Find first peace within yourself. Don't eat too much. Keep your brain active. Love.

The body does whatever it wants. I am not my body; I am my mind.

I should thank Mussolini for having declared me to be of an inferior race. This led me to the joy of working, not any more unfortunately, in university institutes but in a bedroom.

Progress depends on our brain. The most important part of our brain, that which is neocortical, must be used to help others and not just to make discoveries.

My experience in childhood and adolescence of the subordinate role played by the female in a society run entirely by men had convinced me that I was not cut out to be a wife.

At 100, I have a mind that is superior - thanks to experience - than when I was 20.

It's not enough what I did in the past - there is also the future.

If I die tomorrow or in a year, it is the same — it is the message you leave behind you that counts.

Life’s most precious moments are not all loud or uproarious. Silence and stillness has its own virtues.

Biographies are best when written chronologically. Boring people don't make for good biographies.

[On the writers she admires:] I prefer dead writers, because I don't see them at parties.

All happiness is inside your own mind. Chances are, you have not discovered that. Meditation is about experiencing the happiness inside your mind.

Fighting is essentially a masculine idea; a woman's weapon is her tongue.

If we give the bureaucrats our children, we may as well give them everything else.

When we apologize we end our struggle with history.

We've just let too many things happen. And now, try to turn around and fix it. Getting involved in a [Syria] civil war directly was never something I thought made sense.

My old man's got a problem, he lives with the bottle.

Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.