Mann, Thomas (1875-1955)
Some of the men
stood talking in
this room, and at
the right of the
door a little knot
had formed round a
small table, the
center of which was
the mathematics
student, who was
eagerly talking. He
had made the
assertion that one
could draw through a
given point more
than one parallel to
a straight line;
Frau Hagenstrom had
cried out that this
was impossible, and
he had gone on to
prove it so
conclusively that
his hearers were
constrained to
behave as though
they understood.
Mann, Thomas (1875-1955)
A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a great truth.
Maistre Joseph Marie de (1753 - 1821)
The concept of number is the obvious distinction between the beast and man. Thanks to number, the cry becomes a song, noise acquires rhythm, the spring is transformed into a dance, force becomes dynamic, and outlines figures.
Mackay, Charles (1814-1889)
Truth ... and if mine eyes
Can bear its blaze, and trace its symmetries,
Measure its distance, and its advent wait,
I am no prophet -- I but calculate.
The Poetical Works of Charles Mackay. 1876.
Mach, Ernst (1838-1916)
The mathematician who pursues his studies without clear views of this matter, must often have the uncomfortable feeling that his paper and pencil surpass him in intelligence.
"The Economy of Science" in J. R. Newman (ed.) The World of Mathematics, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.
Mach, Ernst (1838 - 1916)
Archimedes constructing his circle pays with his life for his defective biological adaptation to immediate circumstances.
M. Holt and D.T.E. Marjoram
The truth of the
matter is that,
though mathematics
truth may be beauty,
it can be only
glimpsed after much
hard thinking.
Mathematics is
difficult for many
human minds to grasp
because of its
hierarchical
structure: one thing
builds on another
and depends on it.
Mathematics in a
Changing World,
London, 1973.
Malcolm X
I'm sorry to say
that the subject I
most disliked was
mathematics. I have
thought about it. I
think the reason was
that mathematics
leaves no room for
argument. If you
made a mistake, that
was all there was to
it.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.