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Poetry begins as the divine speech of the bicameral mind. Then, as the bicameral mind breaks down, there remain prophets.

— Julian Jaynes The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

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Wikiquote does not flag this quote as disputed or misattributed.

Source: Book III, Chapter 3, p. 374
Work: The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, 1976
Source quality: Source identified Names the work or year, but without an exact location.

More by Julian Jaynes

The vestiges of the bicameral mind do not exist in any empty psychological space.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

The very reason we need logic at all is because most reasoning is not conscious at all.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

Indeed, it is sometimes almost as if the problem had to be forgotten to be solved.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

Idolatry is still a socially cohesive force - its original function.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

These esoteric poses of philosophy and even the paper theories of behaviorists are mere subterfuges to avoid the material we are talking about.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

There is no such thing as a complete consciousness.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

We know too much to command ourselves very far.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

Memory is the medium of the must-have-been.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

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Topics

Poetry

More quotes by Julian Jaynes

Subjective conscious mind is an analog of what is called the real world.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

Every god is a jealous god after the breakdown of the bicameral mind.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

Behavior now must be changed from within the new consciousness rather than from Mosaic laws carving behavior from without.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

There is a complete lack of reference to business profits or loss in any of the cuneiform tablets that have been so far translated.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

Civilization is the art of living in towns of such size that everyone does not know everyone else.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Julian Jaynes (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.