Our minds are finite, and yet even in these circumstances of finitude we are surrounded by possibilities that are infinite, and the purpose of life is to grasp as much as we can out of that infinitude. ~Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947)

The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple. ~S. Gudder

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. ~Albert Einstein

A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.
--Charles R. Darwin

All the effects of Nature are only the mathematical consequences of a small number of immutable laws. - Pierre-Simon Laplace

He who can properly define and divide is to be considered a god. - Plato

There is geometry in the humming of the strings. – Pythagoras

Let no one ignorant of Mathematics enter here. - Plato

The essence of mathematics lies in its freedom.
Quoted in D MacHale, Comic Sections (Dublin 1993)- Georg Cantor

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Alice in Wonderland.- Charles Dodgson

Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems.
Discours de la Méthode. 1637.

Cogito Ergo Sum. "I think, therefore I am."
Discours de la Méthode. 1637.

A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there.
--Charles R. Darwin

Quotes by Paul Erdos

A Mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.

Television is something the Russians invented to destroy American education.

Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is.

There'll be plenty of time to rest in the grave.
Quoted in D MacHale, Comic Sections (Dublin 1993)

Quotables… …from Albert Einstein

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

The search for truth is more precious than its possession.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

One reason why mathematics enjoys special esteem, above other sciences, is that its laws are absolutely certain and indisputable, while those of other sciences are to some extent debatable and in constant danger of being overthrown by newly discovered facts.

All the effects of Nature are only the mathematical consequences of a small number of immutable laws. - Pierre-Simon Laplace

He who can properly define and divide is to be considered a god. - Plato

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