The reading of all good books...

The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.

--Rene Descartes

It is not enough to have a good...

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.

--Rene Descartes

See this quotation on Prometheus Unplugged.

The harder the conflict...

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

--Thomas Paine

Great spirits have always encountered...

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

--Albert Einstein

Advice is like snow...

Advice is like snow--the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper in sinks into the mind.

--Samuel Taylor Coleridge

It is the mark of an educated mind...

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

--Aristotle

Blow your mind...

Blow your mind--smoke dynamite. --Anonymous