Leonard Mlodinow

“I've always loved science, as far back as I can remember. I was very, very curious about how everything worked: the world, the physical universe, chemistry, law. So it was only natural to be curious about how our mind works.”

“Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.”

“On the unconscious level, touch seems to impart a subliminal sense of caring and connection.”

“One of the things your unconscious mind does for you - and it's a great gift - is it gives you extra courage to view the outer world and it does that by giving you an extra-special view of yourself.”

“People intuitively realize that there is strength in numbers and take comfort in the company of others, especially in times of anxiety or need.”

“Evolution is among the most well-established theories in the scientific community. To doubt it sounds to biologists as absurd as denying relativity does to physicists.”

“Just as our brains fill in the details of an image our eyes record only roughly, so, too, do our brains employ tricks we are unaware of to fill in details about people we don't know intimately.”

“French culture is known for many great attributes, some of which probably have nothing to do with food, wine, and romance.”

“One thing that feeds into the way you experience the social world is your mood - and one thing that affects your mood is the weather.”

“My best subjects were chemistry and math.”

“When judging a product, we rarely have exhaustive scientific data to go by. As a result, if we are to form a complete picture, we must fill in the blanks, just as we must in our visual perception.”

“We all know that looks matter, and modern politicians have always assumed that their battles are decided on both substance and image.”

“I find that predicting the course of our lives is like predicting the weather. You might be able to predict your future in the short term, but the longer you look ahead, the less likely you are to be correct.”

“Non-human primates spend hours a day grooming each other. And with humans, touching is also important. It's a way to form bonds and connect in modern society. But you can also speed up the use of conscious purposes once you're aware of that, and it can be manipulated.”

“We have emotions for a reason; for instance, imagine pain. You have pain so that if you touch something that's hot, or if you slam your hand with a hammer, you will pull your hand away and not do that again.”

“Touch seems to be such an important tool for enhancing social cooperation and affiliation that we have evolved a special physical route along which those subliminal feelings of social connection travel from skin to brain.”

“In all our perceptions, from vision to hearing, to the pictures we build of people's character, our unconscious mind starts from whatever objective data is available to us - usually spotty - and helps to shape and construct the more complete picture we consciously perceive.”

“I believe in a kind of God. I think all scientists, in a way, believe in a certain God, in a certain order of nature.”

“We all know that players will hit a few more home runs than usual in some years and a few less in others. But the mathematics of chance also predicts that some years they'll hit a lot more, and some years a lot less.”

“We unwittingly judge products by their boxes, books by their covers, and even corporation's annual reports by their nice glossy finish.”