36 Quotes by Rita Levi-Montalcini

The body does whatever it wants. I am not my body; I am my mind.

[Biographical info on Rita]Born and raised in a Sephardic Jewish family in which culture and love of learning were categorical imperatives, she abandoned religion and embraced atheism. She devoted herself to Science, getting to the point of renouncing marriage for scientific research....Unlike other people, Rita Levi Montalcini was a complete human being.

Tutti dicono che il cervello sia l'organo più complesso del corpo umano, da medico potrei anche acconsentire. Ma come donna vi assicuro che non vi è niente di più complesso del cuore, ancora oggi non si conoscono i suoi meccanismi. Nei ragionamenti del cervello c'è logica, nei ragionamenti del cuore ci sono le emozioni.

Il corpo faccia quello che vuole, io sono la mente.

I tell young people: Do not think of yourself, think of others. Think of the future that awaits you, think about what you can do and do not fear anything.

At 20, I realized that I could not possibly adjust to a feminine role as conceived by my father and asked him permission to engage in a professional career. In eight months I filled my gaps in Latin, Greek and mathematics, graduated from high school, and entered medical school in Turin.

Progress depends on our brain. The most important part of our brain, that which is neocortical, must be used to help others and not just to make discoveries.

The four of us enjoyed a most wonderful family atmosphere filled with love and reciprocal devotion. Both parents were highly cultured and instilled in us their high appreciation of intellectual pursuit. It was, however, a typical Victorian style of life, all decisions being taken by the head of the family, the husband and father.

It is imperfection - not perfection - that is the end result of the program written into that formidably complex engine that is the human brain, and of the influences exerted upon us by the environment and whoever takes care of us during the long years of our physical, psychological and intellectual development.