Quotes by "Abhijit Naskar"

Only fools talk about wisdom, the wise knows to keep silent and let their action do the talking.

Authenticity and respect go to those who stick to their own specific field of work. For example, I am a Biologist and my work is the understanding of human nature - that's where I place all my attention. I know nothing revelatory about modern physics - I know nothing revelatory about mathematics - I know nothing revelatory about architecture - I know nothing revelatory about any field of understanding except for the ones directly related to biology. It doesn't mean that I cannot learn about other fields - I can, but every human has his or her own distinct knack, and mine is understanding humans - understanding how and why they think, what they think - how and why they feel, what they feel - how and why they behave, the way they behave - how and why they perceive, what they perceive.

When I started training myself in Neurobiology, Psychology and Theology, mostly on the streets of Calcutta, at the book kiosks on the sidewalk, for I had no money to buy the books, I had no academic background - no college degree - no potential for earning a decent living - I was a direction-less canoe in the open sea. I did not come from a rich or learned family, nor did I have rich friends, so, as far as everybody else was concerned, my life was doomed. I come from the humblest of origins - like did Ramanujan, like did Tesla, like did many more legendary thinkers of human history. I didn't know the rules of academia - I didn't know the laws and the norms of the scientific community - all I knew was that I had to understand the humans if I were to unite them. Other than that, I had no clue to my future. I learnt by failing - I learnt by making errors - I learnt by moving slowly but surely, and by never losing my sense of awe. And that's really what science is about - it's about naivety, curiosity and awe.

Cynicism breeds hate, whereas inquiry breeds understanding.

Wise is the one who knows to bow before the right person in search of knowledge.

It's more important to know what we don't know, than to know what we know.

Better dope than dilettante.

There's more to science than facts and figures.

You can hardly realize the essence of my ideas, if you try to comprehend them in terms of what your society has taught you. To understand me, you must first be free, and start off in an investigative journey with me, like a naïve newborn with no preconceived idea about anything whatsoever.

There is nothing wrong in not knowing, but that ignorance must never be covered with the illusion of knowledge. Only when you know that you don't know, you can learn and grow.

mystics” and so on, end up bound in yet another form of orthodoxy or extremism, replete with the primal psychological germs of supernaturalism.

Spirituality lies in acts of compassion and conscience, not in supernatural nonsense. One may babble ceaselessly about positive frequencies, healing vibrations, nourishing stones and crystals, but all these are not indicative of a spiritual existence, if anything, they are only signs of stupidity and ignorance masquerading as higher knowledge.

Birth of a question is the beginning of education.

Darkness cannot be expelled with force, it can only be overwhelmed with light.

Real enlightenment is not at all free from all sorts of ignorance, but it is at all times aware of that ignorance as well as all the shortcomings of the self, whereas in the so-called enlightenment fueled by mysticism, the self gets consumed by the illusion of knowledge, which is worse than ignorance.

Darkness cannot be expelled with force, it can only be overwhelmed with light - ignorance and delusions cannot be expelled with force, they can only be overwhelmed with knowledge. And this process of overwhelming ignorance and delusions with knowledge is the practical enlightenment of a thinking society.

To visualize the future – the vast ocean of possibilities, you must first learn to distinguish between knowledge and illusion of knowledge.

I don't know all the answers, only idiots think that they have all the answers. All I do, is try to understand.

Education is an everlasting quest for knowledge and wisdom.

Education means breaking free.