And so was Luria, whose words now came back to me: ‘A man does not consist of memory alone. He has feeling, will, sensibility, moral being ... It is here ... you may touch him, and see a profound change.’ Memory, mental activity, mind alone, could not hold him; but moral attention and action could hold him completely.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that a person's identity goes beyond just memory and intellectual capacity; it involves emotions, will, and moral qualities.
Oliver Sacks' quote reflects the idea that human beings are multidimensional, with their essence not solely defined by memories or cognitive functions. Instead, it suggests that the true core of a person lies in their emotional depth, moral values, and actions, which can lead to profound transformations in their character and interactions. This perspective encourages a holistic understanding of individuals, acknowledging the importance of feelings and ethics in shaping who they are.
In practice
During a discussion on the nature of humanity at a philosophy seminar.
There will be no one like us when we are gone, but then there is no one like anyone else, ever. When people die, they cannot be replaced. They leave holes that cannot be filled, for it is the fate - the genetic and neural fate - of every human being to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.
In general, people are afraid to acknowledge hallucinations because they immediately see them as a sign of something awful happening to the brain, whereas in most cases they're not.
Dr. Kertesz mentioned to me a case known to him of a farmer who had developed prosopagnosia and in consequence could no longer distinguish (the faces of) his cows, and of another such patient, an attendant in a Natural History Museum, who mistook his own reflection for the diorama of an ape
Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more - it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.
We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well. And seeing with the brain is often called imagination.
I rejoice when I meet gifted young people... I feel the future is in good hands.
The plain working truth is that it is not only good for people to be shocked occasionally, but absolutely necessary to the progress of society that they should be shocked pretty often.
The real mystery is this strange need. Why can't we just hide it and shut up? Why do we have to blab? Why do human beings need to confess?
For a war to be just three conditions are necessary - public authority, just cause, right motive.
Crimes are not to be measured by the issue of events, but by the bad intentions of men.
Anything that just costs money is cheap.
My internal and external life depend so much on the work of others that I must make an extreme effort to give as much as I receive.
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