Fossey, Fossey, you cranky difficult strong-arming self-destructive misanthrope, mediocre scientist, deceiver of earnest college students, probable cause of more deaths of the gorillas than if you had never set foot in Rwanda, Fossey, you pain-in-the-ass saint, I do not believe in prayers or souls, but I will pray for your soul, I will remember you for all of my days, in gratitude for that moment by the graves when all I felt was the pure, cleansing sadness of returning home and finding nothing but ghosts.

The frontal cortex doesn't even fully develop until age 25, which is wild!

The regulation of genes is often more interesting than the genes themselves, and it's the environment that regulates genes.

Depression is not generalized pessimism, but pessimism specific to the effects of one's own skilled action.

An open mind is a prerequisite to an open heart.

If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you're in big trouble.

The fascinating thing about our best and worst behaviors isn't the behavior itself - the brain tells the muscles to do something or other - big deal. It's the meaning of the behavior.