--- title: "8 Free Quotes By Robert Sapolsky" description: "8 Free quotes by Robert Sapolsky. Plus more from Robert Sapolsky and more Free sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ac/robert-sapolsky-5012_behavior_from-spending-my-decades-thinking-about_1317224.jpg" --- > [From spending my decades thinking about behavior and the biological influences on it, I'm convinced by now free will is what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/from-spending-my-decades-thinking-about-behavior-and-the-biological/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ac/robert-sapolsky-5012_behavior_from-spending-my-decades-thinking-about_1317224.jpg) > [For me, the single most important question is how to construct a society that is just, safe, peaceful - all those good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/for-me-the-single-most-important-question-is-how-to-construct-a/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d2/robert-sapolsky-5012_free_for-me-the-single-most-important-questio_1405956.jpg) > [I was raised as an Orthodox Jew in a major neighborhood specializing in that, in Brooklyn. And somewhere when I was about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-was-raised-as-an-orthodox-jew-in-a-major-neighborhood-specializing/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/434/robert-sapolsky-5012_body_i-was-raised-as-an-orthodox-jew-in-a-maj_1485361.jpg) > [If you're a baboon on the Serengeti, and you're miserable, it's almost certainly because some other baboon has had the free time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/if-you-re-a-baboon-on-the-serengeti-and-you-re-miserable-it-s-almost/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5c/robert-sapolsky-5012_energy_if-you-re-a-baboon-on-the-serengeti-and_1688729.jpg) > [Primates are super smart and organized just enough to devote their free time to being miserable to each other and stressing each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/primates-are-super-smart-and-organized-just-enough-to-devote-their/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7e4/robert-sapolsky-5012_enough_primates-are-super-smart-and-organized-j_1940935.jpg) > [Intellectually, I believe there's no free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/intellectually-i-believe-there-s-no-free-will/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c6/robert-sapolsky-5012_believe_intellectually-i-believe-there-s-no-free_2097215.jpg) > [Show me one neuron that has some cellular semblance of free will. And there is no such neuron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/show-me-one-neuron-that-has-some-cellular-semblance-of-free-will-and/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/robert-sapolsky-5012_cellular_show-me-one-neuron-that-has-some-cellula_2341728.jpg) > [I used to very politely say that if there is free will then it's in all sorts of boring places, like whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-used-to-very-politely-say-that-if-there-is-free-will-then-it-s-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/robert-sapolsky-5012_biology_i-used-to-very-politely-say-that-if-ther_2781156.jpg) ## Other authors on Free ## More by Robert Sapolsky > [I was not especially a writer back in college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-was-not-especially-a-writer-back-in-college/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/you-don-t-want-to-end-up-telling-somebody-who-s-homeless-or-a-refugee/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [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.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-think-the-relationship-between-social-dominance-orientation-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Depression is like the worst disease you can get. It's devastating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/depression-is-like-the-worst-disease-you-can-get-it-s-devastating/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/juvenile-justice-is-probably-the-area-that-s-most-ripe-for-reform-in/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [When it comes to how neuroscience could help the wider public, the worst thing is when we make advances in, say, mindfulness, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/when-it-comes-to-how-neuroscience-could-help-the-wider-public-the/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [To do good science, you've got to work really, really hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/to-do-good-science-you-ve-got-to-work-really-really-hard/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Literal cleanliness and orderliness can release us from abstract cognitive and affective distress - just consider how, during moments where life seems to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/literal-cleanliness-and-orderliness-can-release-us-from-abstract/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/words-unconsciously-shift-thoughts-and-feelings-one-person-s/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-think-you-get-to-a-time-in-life-where-by-definition-stuff-s-turning/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Being president does seem a lot more stressful than being vice president.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/being-president-does-seem-a-lot-more-stressful-than-being-vice/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/if-a-male-primate-is-mean-to-a-female-primate-her-whole-family-will/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [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.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/when-humans-invented-material-inequality-they-came-up-with-a-way-of/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [Authoritarians have always been here. But the features of a given moment make that way of thinking more or less appealing. Germany in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/authoritarians-have-always-been-here-but-the-features-of-a-given/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) > [The key thing about us is that we all belong to multiple tribes. Even if we are predisposed into dividing the world into 'us'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/the-key-thing-about-us-is-that-we-all-belong-to-multiple-tribes-even/) [Robert Sapolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-sapolsky/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free/robert-sapolsky/#itemlist", "name": "8 Free Quotes By Robert Sapolsky", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "From spending my decades thinking about behavior and the biological influences on it, I'm convinced by now free will is what we call the biology that hasn't been discovered yet. 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And somewhere when I was about 14, something changed. And that change probably involved updating every molecule in my body, in that I sort of realized: this is nonsense, there's no God, there's no free will, there is no purpose.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Sapolsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-was-raised-as-an-orthodox-jew-in-a-major-neighborhood-specializing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/434/robert-sapolsky-5012_body_i-was-raised-as-an-orthodox-jew-in-a-maj_1485361.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/434/robert-sapolsky-5012_body_i-was-raised-as-an-orthodox-jew-in-a-maj_1485361.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/434/robert-sapolsky-5012_body_i-was-raised-as-an-orthodox-jew-in-a-maj_1485361.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was raised as an Orthodox Jew in a major neighborhood specializing in that, in Brooklyn. 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And there is no such neuron.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Sapolsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/show-me-one-neuron-that-has-some-cellular-semblance-of-free-will-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/robert-sapolsky-5012_cellular_show-me-one-neuron-that-has-some-cellula_2341728.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/robert-sapolsky-5012_cellular_show-me-one-neuron-that-has-some-cellula_2341728.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eec/robert-sapolsky-5012_cellular_show-me-one-neuron-that-has-some-cellula_2341728.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Show me one neuron that has some cellular semblance of free will. 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There really is none: It's all biology.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Sapolsky" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-sapolsky/i-used-to-very-politely-say-that-if-there-is-free-will-then-it-s-in/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/robert-sapolsky-5012_biology_i-used-to-very-politely-say-that-if-ther_2781156.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/robert-sapolsky-5012_biology_i-used-to-very-politely-say-that-if-ther_2781156.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d5/robert-sapolsky-5012_biology_i-used-to-very-politely-say-that-if-ther_2781156.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I used to very politely say that if there is free will then it's in all sorts of boring places, like whether…” — Robert Sapolsky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free/robert-sapolsky/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free/robert-sapolsky/", "name": "Free Quotes by Robert Sapolsky", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free/robert-sapolsky/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ac/robert-sapolsky-5012_behavior_from-spending-my-decades-thinking-about_1317224.jpg" }, "description": "8 Free quotes by Robert Sapolsky. 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