“It is essential to understand our brains in some detail if we are to assess correctly our place in this vast and complicated universe we see all around us.”

“There is no scientific study more vital to man than the study of his own brain. Our entire view of the universe depends on it.”

“It is not easy to convey, unless one has experienced it, the dramatic feeling of sudden enlightenment that floods the mind when the right idea finally clicks into place. One immediately sees how many previously puzzling facts are neatly explained by the new hypothesis. One could kick oneself for not having the idea earlier, it now seems so obvious. Yet before, everything was in a fog.”

“The dangerous man is the one who has only one idea, because then he'll fight and die for it."[As quoted in The New Yorker, April 25, 2011]”

“Human beings... are far too prone to generalize from one instance. The technical word for this, interestingly enough, is superstition.”

“How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?”

“Christianity may be OK between consenting adults in private but should not be taught to young children.”