“Whenever I find myself arguing for something with great passion, I can be certain I'm not convinced.” I CanCertainPassionConvincedArguingGreat Passion Book:Notes to Myself Source: Notes to Myself
“What each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but on pictures made by himself or given to him...” MenWorldWayDoeMadeMomentsCertainGivenParticularDirectDetermineCertain Knowledge Author:Walter Lippmann
“Geometry in every proposition speaks a language which experience never dares to utter; and indeed of which she but halfway comprehends the meaning.” SpeakLanguageDarePropositionsHalfwayGeometry Author:William Whewell
“It matters little who first arrives at an idea, rather what is significant is how far that idea can go” FirstsLittlesIdeasMatterSignificant Author:Sophie Germain
“Transcendental [numbers], They transcend the power of algebraic methods.” NumbersMethodTranscendental Author:Leonhard Euler
“No contradictions will arise as long as Finite Man does not mistake the infinite for something fixed, as long as he is not led by an acquired habit of mind to regard the infinite as something bounded.” MenMindLongDoeMistakeHabitInfiniteRegardAriseFixedContradictionFiniteHabits Of Mind Author:Carl Friedrich Gauss
“Life is only good for two things, doing mathematics and teaching it.” TwoLife IsTeachingMathematicsTwo Things Author:Simeon Denis Poisson
“It is self-evident that any and all paths must be open to a researcher during the actual course of his [or her] investigations.” SelfCoursesPathInvestigationEvidentResearchers Author:Karl Weierstrass
“[Mathematics] unceasingly calls forth the faculties of observation and comparison; one of its principal weapons is induction: it has frequent recourse to trial and verification; and it affords a boundless scope for the exercise of the highest efforts of imagination and invention.” ImaginationEffortExerciseWeaponsHighestMathematicsTrialsInventionObservationComparisonFacultyPrincipalScopeBoundlessRecourseVerification Author:James Joseph Sylvester
“In mathematics our role is more that of servant than master.” RolesMastersMathematicsServant Author:Charles Hermite