Consciousness

What a wee little part of a person's life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself - Mark Twain

we take consciousness as an emergent property not just of the individual brain, but also its evolutionary history and social interaction then it is necessarily more than the sum of its physical components - Dave Snowden http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/2008/06/understand_how_does_no…

To me the most astounding fact in the universe is the power of mind which drives my fingers as I write these words. Somehow, by natural processes still totally mysterious a million butterfly brains working together in a human skull have the power to dream, to calculate, to see and to hear, to speak and to listen, to translate thoughts and feelings into marks on paper which other brains can interpret. Mind, through the long course of biological evolution, has established itself as a moving force in our little corner of the universe. Here on this small planet, mind has infiltrated matter and has taken control. It appears to me that the tendency of mind to infiltrate and control matter is a law of nature - Freeman Dyson

Some believe consciousness is entirely physical, others that there is some nonphysical component, some kind of soul. All seem sure. Not me. Trained in brain research, I lean toward the physical. Living as a sentient being, I lean away. Consciousness is a deep probe of the mystery of existence - Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one's head - Mark Twain

I want to work in revelations, not just spin silly tales for money. i want to fish as deep down as possible into my own subconscious in the belief that once that far down, everyone will understand because they are the same that far down - Jack Kerouac

I am naturally over-obedient and hopelessly suggestible. Also, like everybody else these days, I can't stop myself imputing interiority to every machine I encounter - Bryan Appleyard, http://www.bryanappleyard.com/2011/03/sat-nav/

He looked at his own Soul with a Telescope. What seemed all irregular, he saw and showed to be beautiful constellations: and he added to the Consciousness hidden worlds within worlds - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notebooks

From the greatest scientist to the most humble artisan, every brain within every body is infested with preconceived notions and patterns of thought that lead it astray without the brain knowing it. So you are in good company. No matter who your idols and mentors are, they too are prone to spurious speculation - David McRaney http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/11/01/you-are-not-so-smart/