[Intellectual courage is] the quality that allows one to believe in one's judgement in the face of disappointment and widespread skepticism. Intellectual courage is even rarer than physical courage.
John Charles PolanyiA wise man in China asked his gardener to plant a shrub. The gardener objected that it only flowered once in a hundred years. "In that case," said the wise man, "plant it immediately." [On the importance of fundamental research.]
John Charles PolanyiIn education the appetite does indeed grow with eating. I have never known anyone to abandon study because they knew too much.
John Charles Polanyi