John Eccles Quotes

#1. I decided, as a medical student, to devote myself to a study of the brain.

John Eccles

#2. The body and dendrites of a nerve cell are specialized for the reception and integration of information which is conveyed as impulses that are fired from other nerve cells along their axons.

John Eccles

#3. I came to realise that Darwinian evolution had no explanation of me as an experiencing self.

John Eccles

#4. I can state with complete assurance that for each of us our brains form the material basis of our experiences and memories, our imaginations, our dreams.

John Eccles

#5. To the extent that we have a better understanding of the brain, we will have a richer appreciation of ourselves, of our fellow men and of society and, in fact, of the whole world and its problems.

John Eccles

#6. In order that a "self" may exist there must be some continuity of mental experiences and, particularly, continuity bridging gaps of unconsciousness. For example, the continuity of our "self" is resumed after sleep, anaesthesia, and the temporary amnesias of concussion and convulsions.

John Eccles

#7. The origin of each of us stems from codes of genetic inheritance.

John Eccles

#8. I am passionately devoted to the study of life, and particularly to the higher forms of life.

John Eccles

#9. How we come to be, and how we are what we are, is beyond any understanding. I have been obsessed by this, trying to understand the very nature of my existence.

John Eccles

#10. England was a delightful and stimulating place for a young academic, although by present standards, the laboratory facilities were primitive. There were almost no research grants and no secretarial assistance, even for Sherrington.

John Eccles

#11. Brain research is the ultimate problem confronting man.

John Eccles

#12. A better understanding of the brain is certain to lead man to a richer comprehension both of himself, of his fellow man, and of society, and in fact of the whole world with its problems.

John Eccles

#13. A board constituted as the board of Sydney Hospital is constituted is not a suitable body to have control of an institute of medical research.

John Eccles

#14. I can explain my body and my brain, but there's something more. I can't explain my own existence - what makes me a unique human being.

John Eccles

#15. Changes in relative ionic concentration across the postsynaptic membrane are readily effected by altering the ionic composition of the external medium.

John Eccles

#16. Many people, including myself, had our scientific lives changed by the inspiring new vision of science that Popper gave us.

John Eccles

#17. I, at the age of 17 or 18 as a medical student, suddenly came up against a problem: 'What am I? What is the meaning of my existence as I experience it?'

John Eccles

#18. We and our fellow men of all countries must realize that we share this wonderful, beautiful, salubrious earth as brothers and that there never will be anywhere else to go.

John Eccles

#19. To the brains of our predecessors we owe all of our inheritance of civilization and culture.

John Eccles

#20. The last thing that man will understand in nature is the performance of his brain.

John Eccles