Murray Gell-Mann Quotes

Was there a little time between the invention of language and the coming of true and false?

It's commonly assumed that the emergence of language was a key element of the great leap. We of course know very little about the sociopolitical conditions that existed at the time, but there's no scenario I can think of that suggests how a sudden change in these conditions could have led to the emergence of language.

Lately I've been believing that music predates speech.

As our larynxes descended, we were able to make sounds with our mouths in new and far more expressive ways. Verbal language soon overtook physical gesturing as the primary means of communication for all human beings except Italians. (Earth (The Book), p. 36)

I did not say that language as a completed system emerged in an individual in an instant. But I cannot think of a coherent alternative to the idea that mutations take place in individuals, not communities, so that whatever rewiring of the brain yielded the apparently unique properties of language, specifically recursive generation of hierarchically structured expressions, would therefore have taken place in an individual, and only later been used among individuals who had inherited this capacity.

It seems inconceivable that a species of human could possess fully modern language and not be fully modern in all other ways, too. For this reason, the evolution of language is widely judged to be the culminating event in the emergence of humanity as we know it today.

The first art in caves were really psychedelic experiences, and the reason that they were is because the tribal encyclopedia, the amount of information that people needed to know in order to move to a new way of life, suddenly increased over that period of time.

To suppose that man without language taught himself to speak, seems to me as absurd as it would be to suppose that without legs he could teach himself to walk. Language, therefore, must have been the immediate gift of God.

My fans firstly [inspire me]. They make me want to be a better person and really motivate me when times get tough. Also Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and, oddly enough, hubcaps.

Believe that there are no limitations, no barriers to your success --- you will be empowered and you will achieve.

Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot if difference. They don't have to makes speeches. Just believing is usually enough.

if you don't believe in yourself, you'll have some difficulty in making other people believe in you.

Believe in your dreams even when they seem lost.

Believe the incredible and you can do the impossible.

Everyone was telling me you have this great potential and you can be on top. I didn't believe that, but everyone was just telling me to believe in myself. I did and I'm kind of up on top and it's amazing.

There's gonna be times when people tell you that you can't live your dreams, this is what I tell them, Never Say Never.

I started to really believe in myself, and my abilities, when I won the World Under-10 championship in Doral, Florida. I was nine and saw for the first time that I was amongst the best players in the world for my age. This was a massive confidence-builder for me.

Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.

Language is a living thing

Dreams don't have deadlines. Believe in yourself.

When you meet someone who is truly great, he makes you believe you can be great, too.

ASTONISHING, said Death. REALLY ASTONISHING. LET ME PUT FORWARD ANOTHER SUGGESTION: THAT YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A LUCKY SPECIES OF APE THAT IS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEXITIES OF CREATION VIA A LANGUAGE THAT EVOLVED IN ORDER TO TELL ONE ANOTHER WHERE THE RIPE FRUIT WAS.

Live by faith. Live out loud. And never stop believing God-day by day.

Never sell tomorrow short. There's plenty to get excited about. Be filled with expectation, hope and confidence. Believe something good is going to happen - and it usually will.

You have to believe in the long term plan you have but you need the short term goals to motivate and inspire you.