The nature of mind: much of its power seems to stem from just the messy ways its agents cross-connect. ...it's only what we must expect from evolution's countless tricks.

You don't understand anything until you learn it more than one way.

Artificial intelligence is the science of making machines do things that would require intelligence if done by men.

No computer has ever been designed that is ever aware of what it's doing; but most of the time, we aren't either.

Within 10 years computers won't even keep us as pets.

Anyone could learn Lisp in one day, except that if they already knew Fortran, it would take three days.

We'll show you that you can build a mind from many little parts, each mindless by itself.

I bet the human brain is a kludge

I cannot articulate enough to express my dislike to people who think that understanding spoils your experience... How would they know?

It's ridiculous to live 100 years and only be able to remember 30 million bytes. You know, less than a compact disc. The human condition is really becoming more obsolete every minute.

The brain happens to be a meat machine.

Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.

I think part of my purpose in this life is to talk about magic, and to make it.

Like father like son.

You say you're going to be the pope, become the pope.

The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.

Everything in man should halt in awe...Let all the world quake and let Heaven exult when Christ the Son of the living God is there on the altar.

When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.

Marriage, families, all relationships are more a process of learning the dance rather than finding the right dancer

We become what we contemplate.

I don't do live things.