Paul Erdos Quotes

• A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.

  Paul Erdos

  Witty, Humorous, Coffee

  85 Copy quote

• It is not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You should also have an open mind at the right time.

  Paul Erdos

  Mind, Enough, Should

  "My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos". Book by Bruce Schechter, 1998.

  56 Copy quote

• The purpose of life is to conjecture and prove.

  Paul Erdos

  Purpose, Life Is, Mathematics

  63 Copy quote

• 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.

  Paul Erdos

  Beautiful, Education, Math

  84 Copy quote

• God may not play dice with the universe, but something strange is going on with the prime numbers.

  Paul Erdos

  Play, Numbers, May

  71 Copy quote

• Suppose aliens invade the earth and threaten to obliterate it in a year's time unless human beings can find the Ramsey number for red five and blue five. We could marshal the world's best minds and fastest computers, and within a year we could probably calculate the value. If the aliens demanded the Ramsey number for red six and blue six, however, we would have no choice but to launch a preemptive attack.

  Paul Erdos

  Years, Numbers, Blue

  "Ramsey Theory". Ronald L. Graham and Joel H. Spencer, "Scientific American", July 1990.

  71 Copy quote

• There'll be plenty of time to rest in the grave.

  Paul Erdos

  Graves, Plenty

  52 Copy quote

• It will be another million years, at least, before we understand the primes.

  Paul Erdos

  Teaching, Math, Years

  "The indivisible man" by Andrew Anthony, www.theguardian.com. August 3, 2003.

  77 Copy quote

• There are three signs of senility. The first sign is that a man forgets his theorems. The second sign is that he forgets to zip up. The third sign is that he forgets to zip down.

  Paul Erdos

  Men, Three, Firsts

  49 Copy quote

• Finally I am becoming stupider no more.

  Paul Erdos

  Badass, Becoming

  "Variety in Religion and Science: Daily Reflections". Book by Varadaraja Raman, June 2005.

  36 Copy quote

• You don't have to believe in God, but you should believe in The Book.

  Paul Erdos

  Believe, Book, Believe In God

  "In Search of God's Mathematical Perfect Proofs" by Erica Klarreich, www.wired.com. March 24, 2018.

  58 Copy quote

• Another roof, another proof.

  Paul Erdos

  Collaboration, Proof, Roof

  "A Tribute to Paul Erdos". Book edited by Alan Baker, Bela Bollobas and Andras Hajnal, December 13, 1990.

  24 Copy quote

• Television is something the Russians invented to destroy American education.

  Paul Erdos

  Eyebrows, Television, American Education

  "Comic Sections: The Book of Mathematical Jokes, Humour, Wit, and Wisdom". Book by Des MacHale, 1993.

  34 Copy quote

• I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is.

  Paul Erdos

  Beautiful, Math, Numbers

  39 Copy quote

• God has the Big Book, the beautiful proofs of mathematical theorems are listed here.

  Paul Erdos

  Beautiful, Book, Math

  39 Copy quote

• I'll tell you once, and I'll tell you again. There's always a prime between n and 2n.

  Paul Erdos

  Math, Prime, You Again

  40 Copy quote

• Property is a nuisance.

  Paul Erdos

  Nuisance, Property

  41 Copy quote

• Here I am: My brain is open.

  Paul Erdos

  Here I Am, Brain

  31 Copy quote

• Mathematics is the surest way to immortality. If you make a big discovery in mathematics, you will be remembered after everyone else will be forgotten

  Paul Erdos

  Discovery, Way, Forgotten

  43 Copy quote

• When I was a child, the Earth was said to be two billion years old. Now scientists say it's four and a half billion. So that makes me two and a half billion.

  Paul Erdos

  Education, Children, Math

  11 Copy quote

• The SF [Supreme Fascist, i.e. God] created us to enjoy our suffering. The sooner we die, the sooner we defy His plans.

  Paul Erdos

  Suffering, Fascists, Enjoy

  21 Copy quote

• Every human activity, good or bad, except mathematics, must come to an end.

  Paul Erdos

  Education, Science, Mathematics

  28 Copy quote

• Some French socialist said that private property was theft... I say that private property is a nuisance.

  Paul Erdos

  Nuisance, Said, Theft

  "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth". Book by Paul Hoffman, 1998.

  30 Copy quote

• God created two acts of folly. First, He created the Universe in a Big Bang. Second, He was negligent enough to leave behind evidence for this act, in the form of microwave radiation.

  Paul Erdos

  Two, Bangs, Radiation

  9 Copy quote

• Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems.

  Paul Erdos

  Math, Problem, Ready

  28 Copy quote

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