Math Quotes

The life of a mathematician is dominated by an insatiable curiosity, a desire bordering on passion to solve the problems he is studying.

Geometry is one and eternal shining in the mind of God. That share in it accorded to men is one of the reasons that Man is the image of God.

If one must choose between rigour and meaning, I shall unhesitatingly choose the latter.

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.

From a drop of water a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other.

We teach reading, writing and math by [having students do] them. But we teach democracy by lecture.

The surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would.

Mathematics is the science which uses easy words for hard ideas.

It's kind of hard to rally around a math class.

The mathematician, carried along on his flood of symbols, dealing apparently with purely formal truths, may still reach results of endless importance for our description of the physical universe.

We never know what we are talking about.

I am accustomed, as a professional mathematician, to living in a sort of vacuum, surrounded by people who declare with an odd sort of pride that they are mathematically illiterate.

To isolate mathematics from the practical demands of the sciences is to invite the sterility of a cow shut away from the bulls.

I've taught statistics, math courses and what I've found is that often if you teach them algebraically the formulas, you'll have one group of kids doing well.

All exact science is dominated by the idea of approximation.

I take great solace that Einstein failed math. I failed math. I also failed English and home economics. Einstein was an underachiever.

I thought I wanted to be a physicist in high school until I learned that there was much more math than philosophy in it. I assumed I would just sit around all day and think.

Later in the fifties I got involved in kinetic studies using my long forgotten math background.

One can't believe impossible things.

It is the story that matters, not just the ending.

I have tried to avoid long numerical computations, thereby following Riemann's postulate that proofs should be given through ideas and not voluminous computations.

But in my opinion, all things in nature occur mathematically.

Mathematics is about making up rules and seeing what happens.

On Venus you could cook a 16-inch pepperoni pizza in seven seconds, just by holding it out to the air. (Yes, I did the math.)

Mathematics - the unshaken Foundation of Sciences, and the plentiful Fountain of Advantage to human affairs.

Mathematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual word, but every possible word, must conform.

If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again.

I think, therefore I laugh.

Few realize that the world of modern mathematics is rich with vivid images and provocative ideas.

The science of pure mathematics, in its modern developments, may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit.

You live your life between your ears.

Only in math can you buy sixty cantaloupes and no one asks what the hell is wrong with you.

The schools I went to as a kid made me wary. It was clear to me that everything was a lie except math.

Spending time with math people is a lot of fun. As a result of the play, I've had semi-drunken dinners with mathematicians all over the country. I recommend the experience.

Pure mathematics, may it never be of any use to anyone.

A precisian professor had the habit of saying: "... quartic polynomial ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e , where e need not be the base of the natural logarithms."

Math and music are intimately related. Not necessarily on a conscious level, but sure.

There is nothing strange in the circle being the origin of any and every marvel.

Logic doesn't apply to the real world.

He who has heard the same thing told by 12,000 eye-witnesses has only 12,000 probabilities, which are equal to one strong probability, which is far from certain.

I continued to study Math and Physics on my own, but one and a half years later I realized that I did want to be a composer, and after that I never changed my mind.

But Piglet is so small that he slips into a pocket, where it is very comfortable to feel him when you are not quite sure whether twice seven is twelve or twenty-two.

Logic takes care of itself; all we have to do is to look and see how it does it.

USA Today has come out with a new survey - apparently, three out of every four people make up 75% of the population.

Math is my favorite subject. It's the universal language. I like the fact that wherever you go in the whole world, two plus two will still be four.

Projective geometry is all geometry.

In my experience most mathematicians are intellectually lazy.

Dear Math, please grow up and solve your own problems. I'm tired of solving them for you. Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

One began to hear it said that World War I was the chemists' war, World War II was the physicists' war, World War III (may it never come) will be the mathematicians' war.

Most people who open restaurants will fail, because they lack the fundamental understanding of restaurant math. Either they think they're superstar cooks or they think they're superstar hosts.