--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: judgment is the most important faculty we…" description: "\"“judgment is the most important faculty we have. An animal, or a man, may get on very well without ‘abstract attitude’ but will speedily perish if depr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/oliver-sacks-2132_decision-making_judgment-is-the-most-important-faculty-w_2043901.jpg" --- # judgment is the most important faculty we have. An animal… ![“judgment is the most important faculty we have. An animal, or a man, may get on very well without ‘abstract attitude’ but will speedily perish if deprived of judgment. Judgment must be the first faculty of higher life or mind—yet it is ignored, or misinterpreted, by classical (computational)…” quote by Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/oliver-sacks-2132_decision-making_judgment-is-the-most-important-faculty-w_2043901.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/oliver-sacks-2132_decision-making_judgment-is-the-most-important-faculty-w_2043901.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/778/oliver-sacks-2132_decision-making_judgment-is-the-most-important-faculty-w_2043901.jpg) > ““judgment is the most important faculty we have. An animal, or a man, may get on very well without ‘abstract attitude’ but will speedily perish if deprived of judgment. Judgment must be the first faculty of higher life or mind—yet it is ignored, or misinterpreted, by classical (computational) neurology. And if we wonder how such an absurdity can arise, we find it in the assumptions, or the evolution, of neurology itself.”” [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Judgment is essential for higher cognition; without it, even intelligent beings cannot thrive. **In simple terms:** Judgment is crucial for advanced thinking. Key Takeaway Cultivate critical thinking skills. Themes cognition human nature neuroscience Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - education - clinical practice - AI development - personal decision making Key Concepts philosophy critical thinking evolutionary biology Questions to Reflect On - How does modern neuroscience account for judgment? - Can judgment be trained? A Different Perspective Judgment can be clouded by bias and emotional overload. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) [Deprived Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deprived-judgment-3817641/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Judgment Faculty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment-faculty-3817639/) [Judgment Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment-important-3817640/) [Judgment Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment-judgment-3017454/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [What is right or duty without power ? To tell a man it is his duty to submit his judgment to the judgment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/what-is-right-or-duty-without-power-to-tell-a-man-it-is-his-duty-to/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [The Day of Judgment is an important notion: but that Day is always with us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-day-of-judgment-is-an-important-notion-but-that-day-is-always/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-redmoon/courage-is-not-the-absence-of-fear-but-rather-the-judgment-that/) [Ambrose Redmoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-redmoon/) > [Every principle is a judgment, every judgment the outcome of experience, and experience is only acquired by the exercise of the senses . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/every-principle-is-a-judgment-every-judgment-the-outcome-of/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Judgment is judgment, whether you're obese, or too skinny, or not athletic enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-kournikova/judgment-is-judgment-whether-you-re-obese-or-too-skinny-or-not/) [Anna Kournikova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-kournikova/) > [Who am I to pass judgment? Judgment has been passed on me, but I adhere to, 'Let him who is without sin cast the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nesbitt/who-am-i-to-pass-judgment-judgment-has-been-passed-on-me-but-i-adhere/) [James Nesbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nesbitt/) > [Live life without being afraid of judgment from others because judgment from other sinners is invalid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karrine-steffans/live-life-without-being-afraid-of-judgment-from-others-because/) [Karrine Steffans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karrine-steffans/) > [Every principle is a judgment, every judgment the outcome of experience, and experience is only acquired by the exercise of the senses; whence it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marquis-de-sade/every-principle-is-a-judgment-every-judgment-the-outcome-of-2/) [Marquis de Sade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marquis-de-sade/) > [Slave camps under the flag of freedom, massacres justified by philanthropy or the taste of the superhuman, cripple judgment. On the day when crime…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/slave-camps-under-the-flag-of-freedom-massacres-justified-by/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [If critics and fanboys weren't suckers for simplistic nihilism and high-pressure marketing, Afterlife would be universally acclaimed as a visionary feat, superior to Inception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armond-white/if-critics-and-fanboys-weren-t-suckers-for-simplistic-nihilism-and/) [Armond White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armond-white/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The Only cure for nihilism is for liberal democratic societies - their electorates, their judiciary, and their political leadership- to insist that force is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/the-only-cure-for-nihilism-is-for-liberal-democratic-societies-their/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ochs/even-though-you-can-t-expect-to-defeat-the-absurdity-of-the-world-you/) [Phil Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ochs/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) ## More by Oliver Sacks > [“The feelings are similar, in some ways, to those one has in Rome or Athens, but quite different in other ways, because this culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/the-feelings-are-similar-in-some-ways-to-those-one-has-in-rome-or/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [But the saddest difference between them was that Zazetsky, as Luria said, 'fought to regain his lost faculties with the indomitable tenacity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/but-the-saddest-difference-between-them-was-that-zazetsky-as-luria/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/music-can-lift-us-out-of-depression-or-move-us-to-tears-it-is-a/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“We have five senses in which we glory and which we recognise and celebrate, senses that constitute the sensible world for us. But there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/we-have-five-senses-in-which-we-glory-and-which-we-recognise-and/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“But it must be said from the outset that a disease is never a mere loss or excess— that there is always a reaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/but-it-must-be-said-from-the-outset-that-a-disease-is-never-a-mere/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [There is no one part of the brain which recognizes or responds emotionally to music. Instead, there are many different parts responding to different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/there-is-no-one-part-of-the-brain-which-recognizes-or-responds/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [I think there is no culture in which music is not very important and central. That's why I think of us as a sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-think-there-is-no-culture-in-which-music-is-not-very-important-and/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Who cared if there was really any Being to pray to? What mattered was the sense of giving thanks and praise, the feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/who-cared-if-there-was-really-any-being-to-pray-to-what-mattered-was/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“unconscious motives may sometimes ally themselves to physiological propensities, of how one cannot abstract an ailment or its treatment from the whole pattern, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/unconscious-motives-may-sometimes-ally-themselves-to-physiological/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [“We have, each of us, a life-story, an inner narrative — whose continuity, whose sense, is our lives. It might be said that each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/we-have-each-of-us-a-life-story-an-inner-narrative-whose-continuity/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [I regard music therapy as a tool of great power in many neurological disorders -- Parkinson's and Alzheimer's -- because of its unique capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/i-regard-music-therapy-as-a-tool-of-great-power-in-many-neurological/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Psychotic hallucinations, whether they are visual or vocal, they address you. They accuse you. They seduce you. They humiliate you. They jeer at you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/psychotic-hallucinations-whether-they-are-visual-or-vocal-they/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [Much more of the brain is devoted to movement than to language. Language is only a little thing sitting on top of this huge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/much-more-of-the-brain-is-devoted-to-movement-than-to-language/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [About 10 percent of the hearing impaired get musical hallucinations, and about 10 percent of the visually impaired get visual hallucinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/about-10-percent-of-the-hearing-impaired-get-musical-hallucinations/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) > [The rhythm of music is very, very important for people with Parkinson's. But it's also very important with other sorts of patients, such as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sacks/the-rhythm-of-music-is-very-very-important-for-people-with-parkinson/) [Oliver Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) [Explore all 177 Oliver Sacks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sacks/) ## More Decision making quotes > [Making the right decision is hard,telling someone your decision is even harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/making-the-right-decision-is-hard-telling-someone-your-decision-is/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“How can you make an informed decision about whether to save the world if you never leave your tiny part of it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-david-hutchinson/how-can-you-make-an-informed-decision-about-whether-to-save-the-world/) [Shaun David Hutchinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-david-hutchinson/) > [Indecision becomes decision with time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/indecision-becomes-decision-with-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you think of people as making decisions actively, every time we think about the cup of coffee, we say, "How much will I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/if-you-think-of-people-as-making-decisions-actively-every-time-we/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [Decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/decision-is-a-risk-rooted-in-the-courage-of-being-free/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [I never think of things rationally or intellectually. 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"A process by which I use my brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/cheshvan-starts-tonight-rixon-said-what-are-you-doing-arsing-around/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [The right decision is the wrong decision if it's made too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/the-right-decision-is-the-wrong-decision-if-it-s-made-too-late/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [“The decisions we take reflects our belief and our charachter”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajnish-borah/the-decisions-we-take-reflects-our-belief-and-our-charachter/) [Rajnish Borah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajnish-borah/) > [I think most of us are raised with preconceived notions of the choices we're supposed to make. We waste so much time making decisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/i-think-most-of-us-are-raised-with-preconceived-notions-of-the/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) [Browse all 4,912 Decision making quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“judgment is the most important faculty we have. An animal, or a man, may get on very well without ‘abstract attitude’ but will speedily perish if deprived of judgment. Judgment must be the first faculty of higher life or mind—yet it is ignored, or misinterpreted, by classical (computational) neurology. 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