"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."

~ George Bernard Shaw ~

"It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for what this delicate little plant needs more than anything, besides stimulation, is freedom. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty."

~ Albert Einstein ~

"Never let students think they have asked a silly question. Otherwise you risk stifling enthusiasm and killing self-confidence. Get involved in the research. Be their research assistant. It shows your enthusiasm for their work more effectively than (just) checking stats and draft manuscripts. And you can spot technical errors and improvements that might otherwise be missed. Give students time to reach their own conclusions: do not immediately jump in with the solution. Emphasize the positive. Young researchers don't know that draft manuscripts often need heavy reworking and that even good papers get rejected. Emphasize that science isn't personal. When someone criticizes your work, they are not criticizing you. A supervisor must earn co-authorship by doing more than the normal role of a supervisor."

~ Joys of (top-notch) supervision. Nature 434, pp. 421 (2005) ~