Here is a quotation by Sir Peter Medawar that I love:
Scientists are people of very
dissimilar temperaments doing
different things in very different ways.
Among scientists are collectors,
classifiers and compulsive tidiers-up;
many are detectives by temperament
and many are explorers; some
are artists and others artisans.
There are poet-scientists and
philosopher-scientists and
even a few mystics.