In general, people are afraid to acknowledge hallucinations because they immediately see them as a sign of something awful happening to the brain, whereas in most cases they're not.
Oliver SacksRead
There will be no one like us when we are gone, but then there is no one like anyone else, ever. When people die, they cannot be replaced. They leave holes that cannot be filled, for it is the fate - the genetic and neural fate - of every human being to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Each individual is unique and irreplaceable, leaving a lasting impact when they pass away.
This quote by Oliver Sacks emphasizes the uniqueness of every individual and the profound void their absence creates in the world. It reflects on the idea that death is an unavoidable aspect of life, and while each person leaves their distinct mark, their singular paths and experiences cannot be duplicated or replaced, underscoring the value and irreplaceability of human life.
Themes
UniqueIndividualLifeDeathLegacyImpact
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a eulogy to highlight the individuality of the deceased.
More from Oliver Sacks
All quotes →Dr. Kertesz mentioned to me a case known to him of a farmer who had developed prosopagnosia and in consequence could no longer distinguish (the faces of) his cows, and of another such patient, an attendant in a Natural History Museum, who mistook his own reflection for the diorama of an ape
Oliver SacksRead
Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears - it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more - it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.
Oliver SacksRead
We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well. And seeing with the brain is often called imagination.
Oliver SacksRead
I rejoice when I meet gifted young people... I feel the future is in good hands.
Oliver SacksRead
If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self—himself—he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.
Oliver SacksRead
Similar quotes
The disposition of noble dogs is to be gentle with people they know and the opposite with those they don't know...How, then, can the dog be anything other than a lover of learning since it defines what's its own and what's alien.
PlatoRead
What is a loophole? If the law does not punish a definite action or does not tax a definite thing, this is not a loophole. It is simply the law.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
How many have gone? How many more to go? The Admiralty is fast asleep and lethargy & inertia are the order of the day. However everybody seems delighted - so there is nothing to be said. No plans, no enterprise, no struggle to aid the general cause. Just sit still on the spacious throne and snooze.
Winston ChurchillRead
The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain an eternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution may be abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in some instances be made subservient to the vilest purposes.
George WashingtonRead
I looked back at the summit of the mountain, which seemed but a cubit high in comparison with the height of human contemplation, were in not too often merged in the corruptions of the earth.
PetrarchRead
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
Laurence J. PeterRead