Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Robert M. Sapolsky

Quote by Robert M. Sapolsky

Work

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Robert M. Sapolsky
Robert M. Sapolsky

Robert M. Sapolsky is a renowned neuroendocrinologist known for his research on stress, neurobiology, and evolutionary psychology. His work has revealed how stress affects the brain and body, and how these effects relate to human behavior and health. more

You May Also Like

“And then Nesta began screaming. Not in pain. But a name. Over and over. 'CASSIAN.' Amren reached for her, but Nesta roared, 'CASSIAN!' She scrambled to her feet as if she'd leap into the skies. Her body lurched, and she went down, heaving again. A figure shot from the Illyrian ranks, spearing for us, flapping hard, red Siphons blazing-”

“Pain and fear are useful, and people who lack them are seriously handicapped. As noted already, the rare individuals who are born without the sense of pain are almost all dead by age thirty. If there are people born without the capacity for fear, you might well look for them in the emergency room or the morgue. We need our pains and our fears. They are normal defenses that warn us of danger. Pain is the signal that tissue is being damaged. It has to be aversive to motivate us to set aside other activities to do whatever is necessary to stop the damage. Fear is a signal that a situation may be dangerous, that some kind of loss or damage is likely, that escape is desirable.”