The Highest Bloom
“The human brain is the highest bloom of the whole organic metamorphosis of the earth.”
–Friedrich von Schelling (German Idealist Philosopher who developed influential theories of the Self, Nature and Art, 1775-1854)
Exercise Your Brain!
“You know you’ve got to exercise your brain just like you muscles.”
–Will Rogers (American Entertainer, 1879-1935)
Consciousness In The Brain?
One of the most important of all debates is whether or not consciousness is simply a phenomenon – or perhaps even an illusion – created by the brain:
“The highest activities of consciousness have their origins in physical occurrences of the brain just as the loveliest melodies are not too sublime to be expressed by notes.”
–W. Somerset Maugham (English Novelist and Playwright, 1874-1965)
For another approach, and one that is much closer to my own view, you might be interested to look at my review of one of the most important books published in recent years:
“Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century” (Edward Kelly, Emily Williams Kelly)
The Treasure in Your Skull
“There is great treasure there behind our skull and this is true about all of us. This little treasure has great, great powers, and I would say we only have learnt a very, very small part of what it can do.”
–Isaac Bashevis Singer (Polish-born American Writer and, in 1978, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1904-1991)
Three Kinds of Brains
“There are three different kinds of brains, the one understands things unassisted, the other understands things when shown by others, and the third understands neither alone nor with the explanations of others. The first kind is most excellent, the second kind also excellent, but the third useless.”
–Niccoló Machiavelli (Italian Writer and Philosopher, 1469-1527)
The Treasure In Your Skull
“There is great treasure there behind our skull and this is true about all of us. This little treasure has great, great powers, and I would say we only have learnt a very, very small part of what it can do.”
–Isaac Bashevis Singer (Polish-born American Writer and, in 1978, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1904-1991)
Bringing Back Balance
“If I had to live my life again I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week; for perhaps the parts of my brain now atrophied could thus have been kept active through use.”
–Charles Darwin (English Naturalist, 1809-1882)
Brain Wider Than the Sky
The Brain—is wider than the Sky—
For—put them side by side—
The one the other will contain
With ease—and You—beside—
The Brain is deeper than the sea—
For—hold them—Blue to Blue—
The one the other will absorb—
As Sponges—Buckets—do—
The Brain is just the weight of God—
For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—
And they will differ—if they do—
As Syllable from Sound—
–Emily Dickinson (New England Mystic Poet, 1830-1886)
An Organ of Minor Importance
“The seat of the soul and the control of voluntary movement-in fact, of nervous functions in general, are to be sought in the heart. The brain is an organ of minor importance.”
–Aristotle (Greek Scientist and Philosopher, 384-322 B.C.)
A Question About Brains
“In proportion to our body mass, our brain is three times as large as that of our nearest relatives. This huge organ is dangerous and painful to give birth to, expensive to build and, in a resting human, uses about 20 per cent of the body’s energy even though it is just 2 per cent of the body’s weight. There must be some reason for all this evolutionary expense.”
–Susan Blackmore (English Writer, Lecturer and Broadcaster, 1951-)
