Bombs Are Probably More Merciful

The "seriousness" Of A Mathematical Theorem Lies, Not In Its Practical Consequences, Which Are Usually Negligible, But In The Significance Of The Mathematical Ideas Which It Connects.

What We Do May Be Small, But It Has A Certain Character Of Permanence; And To Have Produced Anything Of The Slightest Permanent Interest, Whether It Be A Copy Of Verses Or A Geometrical Theorem, Is To Have Done Something Utterly Beyond The Powers Of The Vast Majority Of Men.

[i Was Advised] To Read Jordan's 'cours D'analyse'; And I Shall Never Forget The Astonishment With Which I Read That Remarkable Work, The First Inspiration For So Many Mathematicians Of My Generation, And Learnt For The First Time As I Read It What Mathematics Really Meant.

Good Work Is Not Done By 'humble' Men

Most People Are So Frightened Of The Name Of Mathematics That They Are Ready, Quite Unaffectedly, To Exaggerate Their Own Mathematical Stupidity.