Quotes About Consciousness

Adults, waiting for tomorrow, move in a present behind which is yesterday or the day before yesterday or at most last week: they don't want to think about the rest. Children don't know the meaning of yesterday, of the day before yesterday, or even of tomorrow, everything is this, now: the street is this, the doorway is this, the stairs are this, this is Mamma, this is Papa, this is the day, this the night.

religion will disappear from men's consciousness when, finally, we have constructed a world of equals, without class distinctions, and with a sound scientific conception of society and of life.

Naquele momento, uma parte de mim desejava de fato discutir com ele sobre o mal que, enquanto você acha que está sendo boa, aos poucos ou de repente, se espalha pela cabeça, pelo estômago, por todo o corpo. De onde isso nasce, papai - eu queria perguntar -, como podemos controlar, e por que esse mal não elimina o bem, mas convive com ele.

sigue intrigando la forma en que nuestro cerebro elabora estrategias y las despliega sin revelárselas a sí mismo. Decir que se trata de actos inconscientes me parece impreciso, quizá incluso hipócrita. Yo sabía muy bien que quería a toda costa regresar enseguida a Milán, lo sabía con todo mi ser, pero no me lo decía.

Imagine that the lines an actress reads are a river that runs calmly along the surface of the earth. Then imagine that the actress are the earth, and that under the earth is another river, a wilder one whose current leaps in the opposite direction, whose roar is muted. Every time the actress speaks her lines, she must offer a glimpse of the river that runs beneath: the mysterious churn of her consciousness, the lawlessness of a person's doubts or desires.

and my ego gladly avoids leaning out the window.

Era yo-quienquiera que yo fuese-, y debía ocuparme de aquella cara, aquel cuerpo, aquellos pensamientos.

Y si morir fuera un querer despertar y un no despertar nunca?

Él sabía que el porvenir era un retroceder veloz hacia la muerte y la muerte, el estado perfecto, el momento precioso en que el hombre recupera plenamente su otra memoria.

También el general, incapaz de dibujar sus días, vivía fuera del tiempo, sin pasado y sin futuro y, para olvidar su presente engañoso

The self can watch itself becoming lazy, or non-watchful; this is an asset that can make both for humor and profound well-being.

His meals were always punctual. Whether she cooked well or badly he did not know; it was a matter of total indifference to him. During his meals, which he ate at his writing desk, he was busy with important considerations. As a rule he would not have been able to say what precisely he had in his mouth. He reserved consciousness for real thoughts; they depend upon it; without consciousness, thoughts are unthinkable. Chewing and digestion happen of themselves.

The body she inhabited during the day was not hers but rather a reflection from other people's eyes.

No doubt, God took a risk with creation by granting it consciousness and free decision.

When I woke up in the morning, there was a second or two when I felt light and free, unaware of any reason to feel upset. Then all my knowledge and memories rushed back and a weight descended on my sternum and the creaking started behind my eyes.

Then I resolved myself and dove under. I felt my skin tighten all over, and realized how infrequently one felt conscious of one's whole body at once, as a continuous surface.

For a moment it felt like we weren't in the Danube at all but in the river of time, and everyone was at a different point, though in another sense we were all here at once.

In fact I had no historical consciousness in those days, and no interest in acquiring one. It struck me as narrow-minded to privilege historical events, simply because things happened to have worked out that way. Why be a slave to the arbitrary truth? I didn't care about truth; I cared about beauty. It took me many years – it took the experience of lived time – to realize that they really are the same thing.

People with a strong sense of being embodied creatures, rather than being bundles of appetite provided with the machinery of a body to work upon, will prove difficult to persuade in the coming century of the biotechnocrats.

Any psyche, conscious of itself, will revolt against the shape, size or color of the body in which it dwells; this is healthy—for that body, in fact, not only reminds the psyche of its mortality, it deprives it of its individuality, binding it to a group. Accordingly, crimes of racial violence outrage not only the victims, but all individuals. Apathy, in this case, is a sad indication that you are not an individual.

Any psyche, conscious of itself, will revolt against the shape, size or color of the body in which it dwells; this healthy—for that body, in fact, not only reminds the psyche of its mortality, it deprives it of its individuality, binding it to a group. Accordingly, crimes of racial violence outrage not only the victims, but all individuals. Apathy, in this case, is a sad indication that you are not an individual.

The desire for continuity is a side-effect of the consciousness of mortality. The desire for meaning is a side-effect of the consciousness of triviality. Hence, consciousness is paid for with an exaggerated focus on sex and work; and those of us who ponder life find these two topics creeping into every discussion.

We should be carefree with our bodies and prudish with our brains, not the contrary. How virtuous we are with our flesh, and yet the first foul thought that comes our way is invited to the depths of our soul.

There is strong evidence that given certain neurological conditions strongly creative individuals can receive a glimpse of an alternative reality where the world of normality is left far behind.