Ivan Pavlov
Discovered classical conditioning
Most quoted
"Thanks to our recent works, the physiology of the brain has been advanced to a new stage, and the study of the highest part of the nervous system, which is of such colossal importance to man, has been placed on a solid foundation of exact knowledge."
— from Nobel Lecture, 1904
"One can truly say that the irresistible progress of natural science since the time of Galileo has made its first halt before the study of the higher parts of the brain, the organ of the most complicated relations of the animal to the external world."
— from Scientific Study of the So-Called Psychical Processes in the Higher Animals, 1909
"The physiologist who succeeds in penetrating deeper and deeper into the digestive canal becomes convinced that it consists of a number of chemical laboratories equipped with various mechanical devices."
— from Nobel Lecture, 1904
All quotes by Ivan Pavlov (368)
It is clear that the conditioned reflex is a phenomenon of the highest order, a phenomenon that is characteristic of the higher nervous activity.
The more complete the adaptation of the organism to its environment, the more perfect its existence.
The nervous system is the most complex and delicate instrument in the world.
The conditioned reflex is the basis of all learning, of all education, of all culture.
The human mind is an infinitely complex machine.
Our work is to understand the mechanisms of life.
Observation and experiment are the only ways to knowledge.
The scientist must be a patient and persistent observer.
The beauty of science lies in its ability to reveal the hidden order of the world.
The study of the brain is the most important task of mankind.
Life is a continuous process of adaptation.
The struggle for existence is the driving force of evolution.
The nervous system is the master of the organism.
The conditioned reflex is a window into the soul.
The pursuit of knowledge is the highest calling of man.
The human being is a complex and contradictory creature.
The mind is not a blank slate, but a product of experience.
The truth is not always what we want to hear.
Science is the poetry of reality.
The human spirit is indomitable.
Contemporaries of Ivan Pavlov
Other Psychologys born within 50 years of Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936).