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

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.

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.

We will never have a perfect world, but it's not romantic or naive to work toward a better one.

You aren’t old enough to have such regrets.”“Pain doesn’t respect age, my lady.

SNAPE: Strange, isn't it? What comes from within. You need to run. I will keep them at bay for as long as I can.SCORPIUS: Thank you for being my light in the dar

Then comes the insight that All is God. One still realizes that the world is as it was but it does not matter it does not affect one's faith.

I've spent a lot of time in a rock n' roll band trying to fight off the fact that I was old enough to rent a car. And it's all sort of rushed in at once now. And I like it.

I was a child actor in radio, and there's not many of us left.

Every man who deserves to be famous knows it is not worth the trouble.

Jealousy is the tribute which mediocrity pays to genius.

It's starting to sink in," Corny said. "I can almost look at you without wanting to bang my head against the wall.

When I'm at the piano, and I'm improvising some song about something, it usually oscillates between factual, absurd, and sincere.

The bigger question to ask about 300 is why, for a supposedly rousing tale of heroism, it's so curiously unaffecting.