“Although I must attribute to my mother’s influence whatever inventiveness I possess, the training he [his father] gave me must have been helpful. It comprised all sorts of exercises — such as guessing one another’s thoughts, discovering the defects of some form or expression, repeating long sentences, or performing mental calculations. These daily lessons were intended to strengthen memory and reason and especially to develop the critical sense, and were undoubtedly very beneficial.” — from My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
