How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend Quotes

“We tend to take our sense of self for granted because it feels so fundamental to our
conscious experience, but it’s a feature the brain works hard to maintain. From the moment you took your first breath, your brain got to work, sifting through a barrage of sensations, emotions, and memories to create this illusion. I say “illusion” not to question your existence but, rather, to acknowledge that conscious experience has to be constructed, piece by piece.
As real and as wonderful as you undoubtedly are, being real doesn’t guarantee entry to
perception or awareness.”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life

“Take magnetic forces”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life

“Stefan Zweig writes: “The excess of suffering murders not only men; it kills off the power of compassion.”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life

“If we never engage deeply with our chosen identities, we don’t give ourselves the chance to evolve and grow within them.”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life

“The brilliance of this system (creating entire ecosystems of products) is that it often feels entirely organic, like a subliminal hum that vibrates just below the threshold of conscious awareness. Gradually and imperceptibly, our understanding of identity has been subtly rewritten by the invisible hand of the marketplace.
Every scroll and click is another lesson in this new language of identity, where being has
been replaced by buying. The most innocuous consequence would be simply purchasing a
pile of rubbish you don’t actually need. But the effects of these new market-driven social
norms can reach beyond your wallet, burrowing deep into your sense of self.”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life

“Existence doesn’t always feel particularly wondrous or exciting. At times, the constant effort can leave us feeling drained, overwhelmed, and even painfully alone.”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life

“In a universe that is vast and uncaring, the human brain is a rebellious anomaly. Here we
are, in a cold expanse of nothingness, thinking and feeling.”
― Rachel Barr, How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend: A Neuroscientist's Guide to a Healthier, Happier Life