Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE, FRCPwas a British neurologist, naturalist and author who spent his professional life in the United States. He believed that the brain is the "most incredible thing in the universe" and therefore important to study. He became widely known for writing best-selling case histories about his patients' disorders, with some of his books adapted for stage and film...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth9 July 1933
drama men self
To be ourselves we must have ourselves – possess, if need be re-possess, our life-stories. We must “recollect” ourselves, recollect the inner drama, the narrative, of ourselves. A man needs such a narrative, a continuous inner narrative, to maintain his identity, his self.
dream reality waking
Waking consciousness is dreaming – but dreaming constrained by external reality
perspective focus feels
I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential.
almost-over life-is realizing
I often feel that life is about to begin, only to realize it is almost over.
way i-can productive
I have to live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can
social bonding cement
Music has a bonding power, it's primal social cement
creativity mind depth
Creativity involves the depth of a mind, and many, many depths of unconsciousness.
musical being-human music-is
Music is part of being human.
dying faces face-to-face
I am now face to face with dying. But I am not finished with living.
medicine patient cardinals
There is only one cardinal rule: One must always listen to the patient.
past people identity
The past which is not recoverable in any other way is embedded, as if in amber, in the music, and people can regain a sense of identity..
unique narrative different
Biologically, physiologically, we are not so different from each other; historically, as narratives - we are each of us unique.
numbers elements boyhood
Elements and birthdays have been intertwined for me since boyhood, when I learned about atomic numbers.
mean loss identity
A disease is never a mere loss or excess. There is always a reaction on the part of the organism or individual to restore, replace or compensate for and to preserve its identity, however strange the means may be.