Hans Selye Quotes & Sayings

Hans Selye, the pioneer in the understanding of human stress, was often asked the following question: "What is the most stressful condition a person can face?" His unexpected response: "Not having something to BELIEVE in. — Hans Selye

Stress is not necessarily something bad it all depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental. — Hans Selye

Gratitude conserves the vital energies of a person more than any other attitude tested. — Hans Selye

Random search for data on ... off-chance is hardly scientific. A questionnaire on 'Intellectual Immoralities' was circulated by a well-known institution. 'Intellectual Immorality No. 4' read: 'Generalizing beyond one's data'. [Wilder Dwight] Bancroft asked whether it would not be more correct to word question no. 4 'Not generalizing beyond one's data. — Hans Selye

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true science. He who knows it not, and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead. We all had this priceless talent when we were young. But as time goes by, many of us lose it. The true scientist never loses the faculty of amazement. It is the essence of his being. — Hans Selye

The builder of the best racing car is not necessarily its best driver. — Hans Selye

Complete freedom from stress is death — Hans Selye

Leaders are leaders only as long as they have the respect and loyalty of their followers. — Hans Selye

What makes me so certain that the natural human lifespan is far in excess of the actual one is this. Among all my autopsies (and I have performed over 1000), I have never seen a person who died of old age. In fact, I do not think that anyone has ever died of old age yet. We invariably die because one vital part has worn out too early in proportion to the rest of the body. — Hans Selye

If you want to live a long life, focus on making contributions. — Hans Selye

A long, healthy, and happy life is the result of making contributions, of having meaningful projects that are personally exciting and contribute to and bless the lives of others. — Hans Selye

Adapting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one. — Hans Selye

Indeed, not all attacks - especially the bitter and ridiculing kind leveled at Darwin - are offered in good faith, but for practical purposes it is good policy to assume that they are. — Hans Selye

To remain healthy a man must have some goal, some purpose in life that he can respect and be proud to work for. — Hans Selye

Stress is the spice of life. — Hans Selye

I doubt that Fleming could have obtained a grant for the discovery of penicillin on that basis [a requirement for highly detailed research plans] because he could not have said, 'I propose to have an accident in a culture so that it will be spoiled by a mould falling on it, and I propose to recognize the possibility of extracting an antibiotic from this mould. — Hans Selye

Who would enjoy a life of no runs, no hits, no errors? — Hans Selye

Almost no germ is unconditionally dangerous to man; its disease-producing ability depends upon the body's resistance. — Hans Selye

It is generally assumed that recurrent miscarriage may be due to progesterone deficiency, hypothyroidism or vitamin E deficiency and should be treated in theses cases with progesterone, thyroid extracts and vitamin E respectively. In theory, thyroid therapy appears to be the least well-founded, especially when applied to women without manifest signs of hypothyroidism, yet among the measures mentioned above it is most frequently claimed to have been successful. — Hans Selye

My advice to any young person at the beginning of their career is to try to look for the mere outlines of big things with their fresh, untrained and unprejudiced mind. — Hans Selye

Gratitude is the most important of all human emotions. — Hans Selye

Nothing erases unpleasant thoughts more effectively than conscious concentration on pleasant ones. — Hans Selye

Stress, in addition to being itself, was also the cause of itself, and the result of itself. — Hans Selye

The element of chance in basic research is overrated. Chance is a lady who smiles only upon those few who know how to make her smile. — Hans Selye

To be totally without stress is to be dead. — Hans Selye

The true scientist never loses the faculty of amazement. — Hans Selye

Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older. — Hans Selye

Its not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it. — Hans Selye

Mental tensions, frustrations, insecurity, aimlessness are among the most damaging stressors, and psychosomatic studies have shown how often they cause migraine headache, peptic ulcers, heart attacks, hypertension, mental disease, suicide, or just hopeless unhappiness. — Hans Selye

Man should not try to avoid stress any more than he would shun food, love or exercise. — Hans Selye

The healthiest of all human emotions is gratitude. — Hans Selye

Unlock your natural drives by doing what you enjoy. — Hans Selye

As much as we thirst for approval, we dread condemnation. — Hans Selye

To make a great dream come true, you must first have a great dream. — Hans Selye