Date: May 17, 2010

"But Ashbery often writes from the position of the slackened mind, billowing with whatever passes through it; Armantrout generally writes in tautened distress, even when she's being funny."

— Chiasson, Dan

Date: May 17, 2010

"It's the mind as problem-solving device, almost as calculator, though it is, of course, most drawn to problems that cannot be solved."

— Chiasson, Dan

Date: June 6, 2010

"A portion of the brain acts as a control tower, helping a person focus and set priorities."

— Richtel, Matt

Date: June 7, 2010

"They have yearnings and fears that reside in an inner beast you could call The Big Shaggy."

— Brooks, David (b. 1961)

Date: November 14, 2010

"It would seem that doing this would be hard enough to cause a brainstorm."

— Sapolsky, Robert (b. 1957)

Date: November 14, 2010

"When we evolved the capacity to be disgusted by moral failures, we didn’t evolve a new brain region to handle it. Instead, the insula expanded its portfolio."

— Sapolsky, Robert (b. 1957)

Date: November 14, 2010

"What are the consequences of the fact that evolution is a tinkerer and not an inventor, and has duct-taped metaphors and symbols to whichever pre-existing brain areas provided the closest fit?"

— Sapolsky, Robert (b. 1957)

Date: December 19, 2010

"But it’s one thing to make deals to advance your goals; it’s another to open the door to zombie ideas."

— Krugman, Paul (b. 1953)

Date: December 13, 2010

"Hospital vigils take place in slow-time, during which the mind floats free, like a frail balloon drifting into the sky."

— Oates, Joyce Carol (b. 1938)

Date: December 13, 2010

"Like butterflies with frayed wings, thoughts fly at me in random and rapid succession."

— Oates, Joyce Carol (b. 1938)