Begin to be now what you will be hereafter.
Always desire to learn something useful.
Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.
Well done is better than well said.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
Never complain and never explain.
Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.
Who seeks shall find.
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
Wherever you are - be all there.
That attitude does not exist so much today, but in those days there was a very sharp distinction between basic physics and applied physics. Columbia did not deal with applied physics.