Michael Faraday

"The world little knows how many of the thoughts and theories which have passed through the mind of a scientific investigator have been crushed in silence and secrecy by his own severe criticism and negative examination; that in the most seemingly arrogant, the most regular and self-sustained investigator, the most patient and laborious inquirer, there is often a feeling of powerlessness and despair."

— from On the Various Forces of Nature, 1849

"I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal."

— from Personal prayer/meditation

"I will simply express my strong belief, that that point of self-education which consists in teaching the mind to resist its desires and inclinations, until they are proved to be right, is the most important of all, not only in things of natural philosophy, but in every department of daily life."

— from Lecture on Mental Education, 1854