Sharon Begley

Sharon Begley – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Discover the remarkable life of Sharon Begley (1956–2021) — acclaimed American science journalist. Explore her early years, major works, guiding philosophy, and memorable quotes that reveal her insights on mind, brain, and science.

Introduction

Sharon Begley was a distinguished American journalist whose work bridged the worlds of rigorous science and accessible storytelling. Born June 14, 1956, she became a leading voice in science communication, writing for major publications and authoring influential books on neuroplasticity, emotion, and the evolving brain. Her career was defined by a passion for bringing complex scientific ideas into the public sphere, always with clarity, curiosity, and nuance.

In this article, we will explore her life, her journalistic path, the ideas she championed, her legacy, and some of her most resonant quotes.

Early Life and Family

Sharon Lynn Begley was born on June 14, 1956, in Englewood, New Jersey. Her parents were Shirley (née Wintner) and John J. Begley Jr. Her father worked as a stockbroker, and her mother was a homemaker.

She grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, where she excelled academically and graduated from high school as valedictorian. From early on, she displayed sharp intellectual promise, a love of reading, and a desire to understand how things work — traits that would guide her writing career.

Youth and Education

After high school, Begley attended Yale University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in combined sciences in 1977. While at Yale, she was active in the Yale Scientific Magazine, contributing articles that helped hone her ability to translate scientific ideas for a general audience.

Unlike many prominent science journalists, Begley did not pursue a formal scientific doctorate—her strength lay instead in bridging the gap between scientific discovery and the public, relying on curiosity, learning, and a talent for clear writing.

Career and Achievements

Early Journalism and Newsweek

After graduating, Begley joined Newsweek and over time became one of its leading science writers and editors. During her Newsweek years, she covered a wide variety of topics: neuroscience, genetics, psychology, medicine, and climate, among others.

Her reporting garnered multiple awards. Early on, she received the Page One Award from The Newspaper Guild of New York for science reporting in magazines (for her Newsweek article “How the Brain Works”). Over the years, she won honors from organizations such as the Religion Communicators Council (for an article “Science Finds God”) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (for “The Mystery of Schizophrenia”).

Later Career: Columns, Books, & STAT

In March 2002, after about 25 years at Newsweek, Begley joined The Wall Street Journal to write a weekly science column, Science Journal. Her column “So Much for Destiny: Even Thoughts Can Turn Genes ‘On’ and ‘Off’” earned a Front Page Award for Best Column/orial from the Newswomen’s Club of New York.

Begley returned to Newsweek in 2007 to resume science writing. In later years, she worked as senior health and science editor at Reuters (2012–2015) and then became a senior science writer for Stat, a life sciences publication of The Boston Globe.

Parallel to her journalistic work, she authored or co-authored influential books:

• The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force (with Jeffrey Schwartz)

• Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves

• The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live — and How You Can Change Them (with Richard Davidson)

Her books helped popularize the idea that the brain is not fixed but can change (neuroplasticity), and she explored how mental habits, emotion, and thought can shape neural circuits.

Recognition and Impact

Begley earned many accolades for her contributions to science journalism and public understanding of science. Her reporting often sparked debate—she was not afraid to critique science, psychology, or medicine when she found weaknesses in prevailing claims. Some of her pieces, such as “Why Doctors Hate Science” or “Placebo Power”, drew critical response from scientists and skeptics, reflecting both the influence and the contentiousness of her work.

Her clarity, courage, and willingness to probe deeply made her a model for science writers who want to retain both rigor and readability.

Historical & Intellectual Context

Begley’s career unfolded during a period of rapid advances in neuroscience, genetics, and molecular biology, tied to growing public interest in mind, brain, cognition, mental health, and how biology interacts with experience. She operated at the intersection of science and society, writing during the rise of brain imaging, epigenetics, and the public discourse on mental health.

Her work helped shape how lay audiences understand ideas like plasticity, emotional regulation, and the implications of new research paradigms. She played a role in making scientific discourse part of mainstream conversation, especially regarding how individuals might harness new brain science in everyday life.

She also faced the challenges inherent in interpreting and communicating science: how to balance enthusiasm and skepticism, how to present uncertainty, how to avoid overselling claims—and often did so publicly when controversies emerged around her work.

Legacy and Influence

Sharon Begley’s legacy is multifaceted:

• Science communication standard-bearer: She demonstrated how deep scientific reporting can remain engaging and accessible without sacrificing nuance.

• Popularizing neuroplasticity: Her books and columns helped bring the idea of a changing brain into popular consciousness.

• Intellectual honesty & critique: She modeled how a journalist can be both an advocate for science and a skeptic, critiquing weak claims and calling for better rigor.

• Inspiration to science writers: Many younger journalists in neuroscience, psychology, and medicine cite her work as influential.

• Enduring ideas: Her contributions to public understanding of the mind-brain connection, emotional brain, and mental training remain referenced in media, education, and popular science.

After her death on January 16, 2021, she was remembered widely in journalism, neuroscience, and public media as a voice lost but whose work continues to resonate.

Personality, Philosophy & Style

From accounts and her writing, several qualities emerge:

• Intellectual curiosity: She probed the edges of what was known and often asked challenging questions.

• Balanced skepticism: Begley was not a science cheerleader; she was careful, probing, and critical where needed.

• Clarity & storytelling: She had the gift of weaving narrative, metaphor, and human voice into science writing.

• Humility about uncertainty: She often acknowledged what science did not yet know, and avoided oversimplification.

• Bridging disciplines: She worked at the cross section of neuroscience, psychology, medicine, philosophy, often drawing connections across domains.

In interviews and by example, she advocated for science literacy, public skepticism (not cynicism), and a humility toward the complexities of mind and brain.

Famous Quotes of Sharon Begley

Here are several notable quotes that reflect her thinking and style:

• “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

• “Arguing, after all, is less about seeking truth than about overcoming opposing views.”

• “The conscious act of thinking about one’s thoughts in a different way changes the very brain circuits that do that thinking…”

• “Like sand on the beach, the brain bears the footprints of the decisions we have made, the skills we have learned, the actions we have taken.”

• “The mind, of course, is just what the brain does for a living.”

• “The mind can store an estimated 100 trillion bits of information compared with which a computer’s mere billions are virtually amnesiac.”

• “For compulsions, according to a growing body of scientific evidence, are a response to anxiety. Suffused and overwhelmed by anxiety, we grab hold of any behavior that offers relief by providing even an illusion of control.”

• “Emerging evidence suggests that people who are suffering from depression are unable to recognize novelty.”

These quotes show her focus on the mind-brain dynamic, mental agency, and the complex interplay of biology and experience.

Lessons from Sharon Begley

From her life and body of work, readers—whether writers, scientists, or curious thinkers—can take away several lessons:

1. Master the balance between enthusiasm and skepticism
   Begley believed in science’s promise but consistently urged humility and critical evaluation.

2. Make complexity accessible—without oversimplification
   Her strength was framing difficult ideas in clear language without erasing nuance.

3. Never stop learning
   Her writing shows she continually updated her views as research evolved; she remained open to change.

4. Use your voice responsibly
   As a journalist tackling science, she understood how powerful narratives influence public understanding and took care to be accurate.

5. Embrace uncertainty
   Great insight often resides in acknowledging what we don’t yet know; she showed that doubt can coexist with clarity.

6. Bridge disciplines
   She found fertile ground where neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and journalism intersect—a reminder that innovation often lies in the overlaps.

Conclusion

Sharon Begley stood at the forefront of science journalism, helping make the evolving brain, mental health, and the promise of neuroplasticity part of our everyday discourse. She combined intellectual rigor, narrative skill, and moral responsibility in a way that few do.

Her legacy is not simply in her words or her books, but in the standard she set: that science writing can be ambitious, accurate, conversational, and enlightening. Her ideas about thought, brain, and change continue to ripple across media, education, and public understanding.

Read her books, explore her essays, and let her quotes invite you into deeper curiosity about the mind, its possibilities, and the evolving frontier of science.