"Accept the view that nothing in nature is useless, even from the human point of view. Even ... where it may not be possible to use particular scientific breakthroughs for our comfort and benefit, there is one positive benefit--the noble satisfaction of our curiosity." From Advice for a Young Investigator

By the time of this 1915 photograph, taken at his Madrid laboratory, Cajal (pointing) was a great man of science. He was ambivalent about that role. "Like vehement and rude friendship, among us fame bruises while it caresses; it kisses but it crushes," he wrote.