“Willpower is more than just a metaphor; self-control is a finite resource.” — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share Image
“If we were designed by engineers, as we consumed more, we'd desire less. But our frequent human tragedy is that the more… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share Image
As I became more interested in behavior from the standpoint of neurobiology, the stress-response became really interesting. What stress physiology is about… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share Image
“While this neurobiology is mighty impressive, the brain is not where a behavior 'begins'. It's merely the final common pathway by which… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share Image
“In other words, dopamine is not about the happiness of reward. It's about the happiness of pursuit of reward that has a… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share Image
You don't want to end up telling somebody who's homeless or a refugee that stress is all perceptual, because it sure isn't in those… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
I think the relationship between social-dominance orientation in people and the extent to which they're made uncomfortable by ambiguity and novelty is really important.… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
Juvenile justice is probably the area that's most ripe for reform, in the nice liberal sense of the word, simply because there's no getting… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
When it comes to how neuroscience could help the wider public, the worst thing is when we make advances in, say, mindfulness, and then… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
Literal cleanliness and orderliness can release us from abstract cognitive and affective distress - just consider how, during moments where life seems to be… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
“Words unconsciously shift thoughts and feelings. One person's 'terrorist' is another's 'freedom fighter'; politicians jockey to commandeer 'family values,' and somehow you can't favor… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
I think you get to a time in life where by definition stuff's turning to quicksand and wherever you can get some solid footing… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
Being president does seem a lot more stressful than being vice president. — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
If a male primate is mean to a female primate, her whole family will come after him. We don't have that sort of accountability… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
When humans invented material inequality, they came up with a way of subjugating the low-ranking like nothing ever seen before in the primate world. — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
Authoritarians have always been here. But the features of a given moment make that way of thinking more or less appealing. Germany in the… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
The key thing about us is that we all belong to multiple tribes. Even if we are predisposed into dividing the world into 'us'… — Robert Sapolsky Copy Share
