Autodidact

“The mental features discoursed of as the
analytical, are, in themselves, but little susceptible of analysis. We appreciate
them only in their effects. We know of them, among other things, that they are
always to their possessor, when inordinately possessed, a source of the liveliest
enjoyment. As the strong man exults in his physical ability, delighting in such
exercises as call his muscles into action, so glories the analyst in that moral
activity which disentangles. He derives pleasure from even the most trivial
occupations bringing his talents into play. He is fond of enigmas, of
conundrums, of hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions of each a degree of
acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension preternatural. His results,
brought about by the very soul and essence of method, have, in truth, the whole
air of intuition.”
― Edgar Allan Poe, The Murders in the Rue Morgue

“I wanted very much to learn to draw, for a reason that I kept to myself: I wanted to convey an emotion I have about the beauty of the world. It’s difficult to describe because it’s an emotion. It’s analogous to the feeling one has in religion that has to do with a god that controls everything in the whole universe: there’s a generality aspect that you feel when you think about how things that appear so different and behave so differently are all run “behind the scenes” by the same organization, the same physical laws. It’s an appreciation of the mathematical beauty of nature, of how she works inside; a realization that the phenomena we see result from the complexity of the inner workings between atoms; a feeling of how dramatic and wonderful it is. It’s a feeling of awe—of scientific awe—which I felt could be communicated through a drawing to someone who had also had this emotion. It could remind him, for a moment, of this feeling about the glories of the universe.”
― Richard P. Feynman, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Adventures of a Curious Character

“Büyük İngiliz felsefecisi ve matematikçisi Bertrand Russel’in çok güzel bir sözü vardır: “İnsanların bildiği ve bilimin keşfetmediği hiçbir şey yoktur.” Bu kadar basit. Atatürk de aynı fikirde. “Hayatta en hakiki mürşit ilimdir, fendir, başka mürşit aramak gaflettir, cehalettir,” diyor. Yani, ona göre de biz bir şey biliyorsak bilim sayesinde biliyoruz, dolayısıyla, çocuklarımız önce bunu öğrenmeliler.
Evet, din de sosyolojik bir olgudur, bunun öğrenilmesi, bilinmesi gerekir. Ama devletin yapacağı şey en fazla dinler tarihini okutmak, din felsefesini, sosyolojisini öğretmek olabilir. Bu kadar. Eğer ki sen irrasyonel birtakım öğelerle uğraşmak istiyorsan bunu aile içinde yapabilirsin, buna kimse karışmaz ama bunu memlekete empoze etmeye çalışma. Tevhid-i Tedrisat’ın yani eğitim birliğinin esası budur.”
― A.M. Celâl Şengör, Dahi Diktatör

“Artists are far away from an understanding of science. My idea was that artists don’t understand the underlying generality and beauty of nature and her laws (and therefore cannot portray this in their art). They don’t understand the technical world they live in; they don't know anything about the beauty of the real world — the scientific world”
― Richard P. Feynman, "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"