Mental slavery is mental death, and every man who has given up his intellectual freedom is the living coffin of his dead soul. – Robert Ingersoll, Individuality

I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to control and bias my mind, and did not suffer from the general belief that whatever is, is right. – Henry Bessemer (discovered new method of producing steel)

Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. – Vincent Van Gogh

They will say that you are on the wrong road, if it is your own. – Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin