Quotes That I Like

Isaac Newton

If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.

John von Neumann

If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is.

Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random numbers is, of course, in a state of sin. (Quoted in Knuth, 1968, Vol. 2, also in Goldstine, 1972)

Albert Einstein

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

The only real valuable thing is intuition.

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

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. Albert Einstein, 'Out of My Later Years,' 1950 p. 297.)

I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details.

I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice [with the universe].

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.

David Hilbert

Wir müssen wissen, wir werden wissen - We must know, we shall know.

Otto Blumenthal, Hilbert's first student:

In the analysis of mathematical talent one has to differentiate between the ability to create new concepts that generate new types of thought structures and the gift for sensing deeper connections and underlying unity. In Hilbert's case, his greatness lies in an immensely powerful insight that penetrates into the depths of a question. All of his works contain examples from far-flung fields in which only he was able to discern an interrelatedness and connection with the problem at hand. From these, the synthesis, his work of art, was ultimately created. Insofar as the creation of new ideas is concerned, I would place Minkowski higher, and of the classical great ones, Gauss, Galois, and Riemann. But when it comes to penetrating insight, only a few of the very greatest were the equal of Hilbert.