Bessel van der Kolk Quotes
The most important job of the brain is to ensure our survival, even under the most miserable conditions. Everything else is secondary. In order to do that, brains need to: (1) generate internal signals that register what our bodies need, such as food, rest, protection, sex, and shelter; (2) create a map of the world to point us where to go to satisfy those needs; (3) generate the necessary energy and actions to get us there; (4) warn us of dangers and opportunities along the way; and (5) adjust our actions based on the requirements of the moment.
Quotes to Explore
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I have no special talent, you know. I never took a writing course before I began to write.
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I'm a very interior person. I love silence. I revel in it. I'm happy that way.
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For the traditional fantasies, a lot more of my research comes from reading rather than doing. I like my worlds to feel real, so I do a lot of world building research.
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It was just such a demeaning thing to do, being in silent movies. They'd call you up and tell you, 'Hey, jump off this building!' and they'd give you a hundred bucks, and you'd do it.
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Diversity isn't just a hallmark of big cities anymore.
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I hate camping, but I love summer camp.
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I was amazed at how the life of a freelancer differed from running a remote studio for another company. I thought I knew what I was doing in 2004 when I left Eidos because I had run Ion Storm Austin, which was my own independent studio. I had run a business unit inside Origin, but being part of a startup is crazy.
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I'm learning Spanish - I got Rosetta Stone for Christmas.
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I've always thought my soundtracks do pretty good, because they're basically professional equivalents of a mix tape I'd make for you at home.
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There is no job description for the first lady and she's only there because her husband got elected president.
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A good hair day is when my curls are popping. Sometimes my curls and waves, they like to go a little wild sometimes. They have a mind of their own. But some days, they just fall right into place.
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Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense.
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I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
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I'm all in favour of grand important speeches, but the president then has to link his sermons to a strategy.
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It is clear that when you write a story that takes place in the past, you try to show what really happened in those times. But you are always moved by the suspicion that you are also showing something about our contemporary world.
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If you're a friend or a relative of George Herbert Walker Bush, Prez 41, or George W. Bush, Prez 43, or any other Bushes, then you know an 18-hole round of golf shouldn't take more than three hours out of your day - there are other important things to do.
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It's an intolerable abuse of power to have employees who are supposed to be advancing the public interest actually working on political campaigns.
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You can forgive yourself a great deal.
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The need to impress others causes half the world's woes. Don't add to them. Be real, not impressive.
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I chose my own path because that was the only way.
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It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.
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My beef was with essentially being a product. I didn't want to be a product, so I tried to get fired, but they didn't fire me, which was weird.
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One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it, is contraception. I came across someone who articulated very clearly that one of the things which makes our approach to Buddhist practice in regards to sex different these days than it was in Buddhist times, is the simple existence of reliable contraception, which is a no brainer but I missed really addressing it in the book.
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The most important job of the brain is to ensure our survival, even under the most miserable conditions. Everything else is secondary. In order to do that, brains need to: (1) generate internal signals that register what our bodies need, such as food, rest, protection, sex, and shelter; (2) create a map of the world to point us where to go to satisfy those needs; (3) generate the necessary energy and actions to get us there; (4) warn us of dangers and opportunities along the way; and (5) adjust our actions based on the requirements of the moment.
