Quotes from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life

243 pages

Rating: (767 votes)


“By focusing on possibilities, you can see more than a potential light at the end of the tunnel. The light doesn't have to be at the end of the tunnel; it can illuminate an opportunity wherever you are.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Some researchers have proposed that experiencing empathy and compassion through the mirror neuron system is equivalent to having compassion for yourself. Thus, “giving is receiving ” is a brain-based truth. Insensitivity and selfishness are essentially bad for your brain and your mental health. In contrast, compassion and loving relationships are good for your brain and your mental health.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Thousands of years ago, when our ancestors encountered a predatory animal like a lion, it was best to react immediately and not stand around thinking about the lion, admiring its beauty or wondering why it was bothering them instead of tracking down some tasty antelope. Thus, the fast track to the amygdala kept our ancestors alive.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Cortisol works more systemically than adrenaline does. It triggers the liver to make more glucose available in the bloodstream while it also blocks insulin receptors in nonessential organs and tissues so that you get all the glucose (fuel) that you need to deal with the threat. Cortisol’s work is a long-term strategy of insulin resistance, which serves to provide the brain with a sustained level of glucose. However, you don’t always have a lot of glucose floating around, so cortisol works to stockpile energy. It converts protein into glycogen and begins to store fat. If the stress is chronic, the increased body fat is stored in the abdomen. If you have a growing bulge in your midsection, it may be due to cortisol working to store energy. Unfortunately, that’s not the way you want it to be stored. It’s better to burn off such stored energy by exercise.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Brain-Based Therapy with Adults and Brain-Based Therapy with Children and Adolescents.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life



“Because the amygdala can become hypersensitive, chronic stress can make you more jumpy and anxious. This is why a war veteran with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will hit the floor and cover his head when he hears the loud blast of fireworks. Before he has a chance to think about it, the blast reminds him of an improvised explosive device (IED) exploding or a gunshot. His amygdala triggers the fight-or-flight response—a false alarm. When you experience severe trauma or excessive chronic stress, the once-cooperative partnership between your hippocampus and your amygdala becomes skewed in favor of the amygdala. This is because the hippocampus is assaulted by excess cortisol and glutamate when the amygdala is pumped up. Cortisol and glutamate act to excite the amygdala, and the more it is excited, the more easily it is triggered.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“There are seven general principles to follow to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. These principles make up hybrid yoga (but are common to prayer, meditation, relaxation exercises, and hypnosis as well) and can be referred to as parasympathetic meditation. Think”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Not only does behavior change the structure of the brain through neuroplasticity; just thinking about or imagining particular behaviors can change brain structure as well.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“behavioral activation (borrowed from evidence-based treatment)”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“cognitive restructuring (borrowed from cognitive-behavioral therapy)”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life



“shift your brain to a different attractor state (borrowed from neurodynamics)”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Now that you have a better idea of how the brain works, let’s focus on a method of rewiring your brain that involves the following four steps: • Focus • Effort • Effortlessness • Determination”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“You need to pay attention to the situation, the new behavior, or the memory that you want to repeat or remember.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“FEED Your Brain Now that you have a better idea of how the brain works, let’s focus on a method of rewiring your brain that involves the following four steps: • Focus • Effort • Effortlessness • Determination”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Focus allows you to pay attention to what’s happening here and now, and this starts the process of neuroplasticity.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life



“Effort shifts your attention from perception to action. Making a focused effort activates your brain to establish new synaptic connections.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“In the beginning, it takes focus, effort, and more energy in your brain, but after you make the swing or say hello enough times, it becomes effortless. Thus, to rewire your brain you’ll have to stay with the new behavior long enough to make it become fairly automatic. In time, practice will make it effortless. Your brain won’t have to work as hard once you reach this level.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“The final step in feeding your brain is staying in practice. Do the activity again and again. Being determined in this way need not be tiring and painful. If you practice the other three steps in feeding your brain, by the time you get to this one, it should come easily. That’s because effortlessness precedes it. Thus, determination simply means that you stay in practice. By being determined, you’ll complete the feeding process to rewire your brain.”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Repetition rewires the brain and breeds habits. When”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life


“Skipping Breakfast Eating Breakfast ↓Problem-solving ability ↑Problem-solving ability ↓Short-term memory ↑Arithmetic skills ↓Attention and episodic memory ↑Vigilant attention”
― quote from Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life



Popular quotes

“No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.”
― Michel de Montaigne, quote from The Complete Essays


“And sometimes we discuss frightening and troublesome animals that might be nearby, and this topic always leads to much disagreement over which part of a frightening and troublesome beast is the most frightening and troublesome. Some say the teeth of the beast, because teeth are used for eating children, and often their parents, and gnawing on their bones. Some say the claws of the beast, because claws are used for ripping things to shreds. And some say the hair of the beast, because hair can make allergic people sneeze. But I always insist that the most frightening part of any beast is its belly, for the simple reason that if you are seeing the belly of the beast it means you have already seen the teeth of the beast and the claws of the of the beast and even the hair of the beast, and now you are trapped and there is probably no hope for you.”
― Lemony Snicket, quote from The Carnivorous Carnival


“Die Slowly' by Pablo Neruda:
He who does not travel, who does not read,
who does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself,
she who does not find grace in herself,
dies slowly.”
― Pablo Neruda, quote from The Poetry of Pablo Neruda


“I am ready. I have repented my sins and soon I will be in heaven with Christ my savior. Now I must die like a man.”
― Charles Portis, quote from True Grit


“Right? I don’t know why I did it. Temporary insanity, maybe. Did you ever do something that makes absolutely no sense, but you couldn’t help yourself?”
― Robyn Mundell, quote from Brainwalker


Interesting books

Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between
(5.1K)
Dead, Undead, or Som...
by J.A. Saare
Chasing Brooklyn
(7.6K)
Chasing Brooklyn
by Lisa Schroeder
The King's Blood
(9.9K)
The King's Blood
by Daniel Abraham
Zazen
(1.2K)
Zazen
by Vanessa Veselka
The Lost Conspiracy
(2K)
The Lost Conspiracy
by Frances Hardinge
The Collector
(8.3K)
The Collector
by Victoria Scott

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.