Progress depends on our brain. The most important part of our brain, that which is neocortical, must be used to help others and not just to make discoveries.
Rita Levi-MontalciniRead
My experience in childhood and adolescence of the subordinate role played by the female in a society run entirely by men had convinced me that I was not cut out to be a wife.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a rejection of traditional gender roles based on personal experience.
Rita Levi-Montalcini's quote speaks to her realization during her childhood and adolescence of the restrictive and subordinate role women were often forced into in a male-dominated society. This understanding led her to the conclusion that she was not suited to the traditional expectations of being a wife, highlighting the societal constraints imposed on women and her desire to break free from them to pursue her own path.
In practice
In a women's rights rally, this quote can be used to inspire those fighting against gender inequality.
Progress depends on our brain. The most important part of our brain, that which is neocortical, must be used to help others and not just to make discoveries.
Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them
My life has been enriched by excellent human relations, work and interests. I have never felt lonely.
I tell young people: Do not think of yourself, think of others. Think of the future that awaits you, think about what you can do and do not fear anything.
If I had not been discriminated against or had not suffered persecution, I would never have received the Nobel Prize.
After centuries of dormancy, young women... can now look toward a future moulded by their own hands.
Very well, then, where do we arrive? Where do we arrive with our respect, our homage, our filial affection? At Adam! At Adam, every time. We can't build a monument to a germ, but we can build one to Adam, who is in the way to turn myth in in fifty years and be entirely forgotten in two hundred. We can build a monument and save his name to the world forever, and we'll do it!
And it's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible.
I believe that we must maintain pride in the knowledge that the actions we take, based on our own decisions and choices as individuals, link directly to the magnificent challenge of transforming human history.
There’s nothing wrong with not looking like something. It just means you don’t fit the stereotype yet.
You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe: when it knocked down our buildings it did not replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that.
Man has the power to act as his own destroyer - and that is the way he has acted through most of his history.
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