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Neel Burton Quotes

Of all funny things, truth is the funniest.

Neel Burton

Of all funny things, truth is the funniest.

Tags: amusement, cognitive psychology, comedy, humour, laughter, philosophy, psychology

Maths is at only one remove from magic.

Neel Burton

Maths is at only one remove from magic.

Tags: algebra, algorithms, geometry, magic, mathematics, maths, occult, trigonometry

About Author
Neel Burton (born in Mauritius, Indian Ocean) is a British psychiatrist, philosopher, writer, and educator. He is the author of several books, including Psychiatry (2006), Living with Schizophrenia (2007), The Meaning of Madness (2008), Master your Mind (2009), Heaven and Hell: The Psychology of the Emotions (2015), and Hypersanity: Thinking Beyond Thinking (2019).

In philosophy, phenomenology is the study of the structures of experience and consciousness. Wine blind tasting is the best phenomenology, phenomenology par excellence, returning us from our heads int...

Neel Burton

In philosophy, phenomenology is the study of the structures of experience and consciousness. Wine blind tasting is the best phenomenology, phenomenology par excellence, returning us from our heads int...

Tags: blind tasting, experience, husserl, phenomenology, philosophy, wine, wine tasting

My basic political principle: If something, whether right- or left-wing, is driven by love and solidarity, it is right; if it is driven by hate and fear it is wrong. Simple as that.

Neel Burton

My basic political principle: If something, whether right- or left-wing, is driven by love and solidarity, it is right; if it is driven by hate and fear it is wrong. Simple as that.

Tags: fear, hate, love, philosophy, politics, solidarity

It is no coincidence that, on all four sides, in all four corners, the borders of the Roman Empire stopped where wine could no longer be made.

Neel Burton

It is no coincidence that, on all four sides, in all four corners, the borders of the Roman Empire stopped where wine could no longer be made.

Tags: civilisation, geography, history, oenology, roman empire, rome, viticulture, wine

Resentment is a powerful and corrosive force, both on the slippery left and the slippery right, and the history of humankind can largely be read as a history of resentment. Aside from a profound philo...

Neel Burton

Resentment is a powerful and corrosive force, both on the slippery left and the slippery right, and the history of humankind can largely be read as a history of resentment. Aside from a profound philo...

Tags: capitalism, communism, envy, fascism, history, philosophy, politics, psychology, resentment, socialism

The three most powerful seasonings are hunger, variety, and gratitude.

Neel Burton

The three most powerful seasonings are hunger, variety, and gratitude.

Tags: food, foodies, philosophy, psychology, spices

The irony is, nothing is more frightening than being frightened.

Neel Burton

The irony is, nothing is more frightening than being frightened.

Tags: courage, cowardice, emotions, fear, feelings, irony, virtue

Many things can prolong your life, but only wisdom can save it.

Neel Burton

Many things can prolong your life, but only wisdom can save it.

Tags: ageing, immortality, life, lifespan, longevity, self help, wisdom

If you say it very softly, with a smile, you can get away with saying almost anything, even the truth.

Neel Burton

If you say it very softly, with a smile, you can get away with saying almost anything, even the truth.

Tags: communication, humour, psychology, self deception, social skills, truth

Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling, and as profound as our thinking.

Neel Burton

Our life is just as long or short as our remembering: as rich as our imagining, as vibrant as our feeling, and as profound as our thinking.

Tags: cognition, emotions, imagination, philosophy, psychology

Man is mostly a collection of emotions, most of which he would do better not to be feeling.

Neel Burton

Man is mostly a collection of emotions, most of which he would do better not to be feeling.

Tags: emotion, epigram, feelings, philosophy, stoicism

An artist is someone who, needing nothing and no one, wants everything and everyone.

Neel Burton

An artist is someone who, needing nothing and no one, wants everything and everyone.

Tags: art, artists, artists life, artists way

There are essentially three types of people: those who love life more than they fear it, those who fear life more than they love it, and those who have no clue what I'm talking about.

Neel Burton

There are essentially three types of people: those who love life more than they fear it, those who fear life more than they love it, and those who have no clue what I'm talking about.

Tags: humor, philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy, wit

When we stop noticing small things, we are no longer truly alive.

Neel Burton

When we stop noticing small things, we are no longer truly alive.

Tags: detail, life, living

No one ever pays to learn the most important things.

Neel Burton

No one ever pays to learn the most important things.

Tags: education, irony, learning, money, teaching, wisdom

Drinking turns a fool into a merry fool.

Neel Burton

Drinking turns a fool into a merry fool.

Tags: alcohol, drinking, wine

Man cannot bear to be in the wrong. As soon as he feels guilt or remorse, he bends his ethics to suit himself. Actions do not flow from ethics, but ethics from actions, and it is by refining our actio...

Neel Burton

Man cannot bear to be in the wrong. As soon as he feels guilt or remorse, he bends his ethics to suit himself. Actions do not flow from ethics, but ethics from actions, and it is by refining our actio...

Tags: ethics, philosophy, self deception, virtue

I can't believe I spent 13 years at school and never got taught cooking, gardening, conversation, massage, Latin, or philosophy. What were they thinking? That I would somehow live off inorganic chemis...

Neel Burton

I can't believe I spent 13 years at school and never got taught cooking, gardening, conversation, massage, Latin, or philosophy. What were they thinking? That I would somehow live off inorganic chemis...

Tags: education, philosophy, school

Just as Prometheus delivered stolen fire to man, so Eve, and the serpent, delivered man into self-consciousness, setting him up, were it not for his short lifespan, as rival to God. At the same time,...

Neel Burton

Just as Prometheus delivered stolen fire to man, so Eve, and the serpent, delivered man into self-consciousness, setting him up, were it not for his short lifespan, as rival to God. At the same time,...

Tags: consciousness, creation myths, culture, greek mythology, religion, wine