Words&Dirt

“Joe said plaintively, ‘But what will I do here alone?’

Samuel was silent for a moment. Then he said, ‘Joe, do you love me?’

‘Why, sure.’

‘If you heard I’d committed some great crime would you turn me over to the police?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Would you?’

‘No.’

‘All right then. In my basket, under my clothes, you’ll find two books––new, so be gentle to them. It’s two volumes by a man the world is going to hear from. You can start reading if you want and it will raise up your lid a little. It’s called The Principles of Psychology and it’s by an Eastern named named William James. No relative to the train robber. And, Joe, if you ever let on about the books I’ll run you off the ranch. If your mother ever found out I spent money on them she’d run me off the ranch.’”

––East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, pg. 186

“Scientists who believe that their discipline will progressively eliminate all philosophical problems are simply fooling themselves. What science can contribute to is the elimination of false philosophical problems.”

––Vittorio Gallese, from The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self, by Thomas Metzinger, pg. 182