Quotes by Santiago Ramón y Cajal

“It is strange to see how the populace, which nourishes its imagination with tales of witches or saints, mysterious events and extraordinary occurrences, disdains the world around it as commonplace, monotonous and prosaic, without suspecting that at bottom it is all secret, mystery, and marvel.””

“Our novice runs the risk of failure without additional traits: a strong inclination toward originality, a taste for research, and a desire to experience the incomparable gratification associated with the act of discovery itself.””

“It is important to realize that if certain areas of science appear to be quite mature, others are in the process of development, and yet others remain to be born.””

“The indescribable pleasure”

“What a wonderful stimulant it would be for the beginner if his instructor, instead of amazing and dismaying him with the sublimity of great past achievements, would reveal instead the origin of each scientific discovery, the series of errors and missteps that preceded it”

“It is fair to say that, in general, no problems have been exhausted; instead, men have been exhausted by the problems””

“The mediocre can be educated; geniuses educate themselves.””

“Oh comforting solitude, how favorable thou art to original thought!””

“All outstanding work, in art as well as in science, results from immense zeal applied to a great idea.””

“consider the possibility that any man could, if he were so inclined, be the sculptor of his own brain, and that even the least gifted may, like the poorest land that has been well cultivated and fertilized, produce an abundant harvest.””

“«poco basta cada día si cada día logramos ese poco».””

“How many interesting facts fail to be converted into fertile discoveries because their first observers regard them as natural and ordinary things!....It is strange to see how the populace, which nourishes its imagination with tales of witches or saints, mysterious events and extraordinary occurrences, disdains the world around it as commonplace, monotonous and prosaic, without suspecting that at bottom it is all secret, mystery and marvel.””

“The secret lies in the method of work; in taking advantage of as much time as possible for the activity; in not retiring for the day until at least two or three hours are dedicated to the task; in wisely constructing a dike in front of the intellectual dispersion and waste of time required by social activity; and finally, in avoiding as much as possible the malicious gossip of the café and other entertainment”