Theorems Quotes

• If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Inspirational, Funny

  "Personal Quotes/ Biography". www.imdb.com.

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• We often hear that mathematics consists mainly of "proving theorems." Is a writer's job mainly that of "writing sentences?"

  Gian-Carlo Rota

  Jobs, Writing, Math

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• If only I had the Theorems! Then I should find the proofs easily enough.

  Bernhard Riemann

  Easy, Enough, Mathematics

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• A mathematician is a person who can find analogies between theorems; a better mathematician is one who can see analogies between proofs and the best mathematician can notice analogies between theories.

  Stefan Banach

  Analogies, Proof, Theory

  "Banach Spaces and Their Applications in Analysis: Proceedings of the International Conference at Miami University, May 22-27, 2006, in Honor of Nigel Kalton's 60th Birthday" by Beata Randrianantoanina, Narcisse Randrianantoanina, Walter de Gruyter, (p. 5), 2007.

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• Young men should prove theorems, old men should write books.

  G. H. Hardy

  Book, Writing, Math

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• Any good theorem should have several proofs, the more the better.

  Michael Atiyah

  Should Have, Proof, Should

  "Interview with Michael Atiyah and Isadore Singer". Interview with Martin Raussen, Christian Skau, www.researchgate.net. February 2005.

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• Theorems often tell us complex truths about the simple things, but only rarely tell us simple truths about the complex ones. To believe otherwise is wishful thinking or "mathematics envy."

  Marvin Minsky

  Believe, Simple, Thinking

  "Music, Mind, and Meaning". Computer Music Journal, Volume 5, Number 3, web.media.mit.edu. 1981.

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

  Paul Erdos

  Witty, Humorous, Coffee

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• 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

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• Economists often like startling theorems, results which seem to run counter to conventional wisdom.

  Joseph Stiglitz

  Running, Wisdom, Results

  Autobiographical Essay for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, www.nobelprize.org. 2001.

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• The elegance of a mathematical theorem is directly proportional to the number of independent ideas one can see in the theorem and inversely proportional to the effort it takes to see them.

  George Polya

  Independent, Ideas, Numbers

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

  Paul Erdos

  Beautiful, Book, Math

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• One geometry cannot be more true than another; it can only be more convenient.

  Henri Poincare

  Mathematics, Geometry, Convenient

  Henri Poincare (2012). “The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare”, p.85, Modern Library

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• The principle is so perfectly general that no particular application of it is possible.

  George Polya

  Knowledge, Math, Principles

  George Pólya (1948). “How to solve it: a new aspect of mathematical method”

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• Mathematics is not a deductive science - that's a cliché... What you do is trial and error, experimentation, guesswork.

  Paul Halmos

  Math, Errors, Trial And Error

  "I Want to be a Mathematician: An Automathography". Book by Paul Halmos, 1985.

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• It gives me the same pleasure when someone else proves a good theorem as when I do it myself.

  Edmund Landau

  Giving, Pleasure, Prove

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• You can learn to find unknowns in equations, draw equidistant lines and demonstrate theorems, but in real life there's nothing to position, calculate, or guess.

  Delphine de Vigan

  Real, Lines, Draws

  Delphine de Vigan (2010). “No and Me”, p.67, A&C Black

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• 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.

  G. H. Hardy

  Lying, Ideas, Mathematics

  G. H. Hardy, C. P. Snow (2012). “A Mathematician's Apology”, p.89, Cambridge University Press

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• In many cases a dull proof can be supplemented by a geometric analogue so simple and beautiful that the truth of a theorem is almost seen at a glance.

  Martin Gardner

  Beautiful, Simple, Dull

  "Mathematical Games". Scientific American (October 1973), later quoted in Roger B. Nelson "Proofs Without Words: Exercises in Visual Thinking" ("Introduction", p. 5), 1993.

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• A felicitous but unproved conjecture may be of much more consequence for mathematics than the proof of many a respectable theorem.

  Atle Selberg

  May, Mathematics, Proof

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• The missing piece in his stomach hurt so much-and eventually he stopped thinking about the Theorem and wondered only how something that isn't there can hurt you.

  John Green

  Hurt, Thinking, Missing

  John Green (2008). “An Abundance of Katherines”, p.98, Penguin

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• To many, mathematics is a collection of theorems. For me, mathematics is a collection of examples; a theorem is a statement about a collection of examples and the purpose of proving theorems is to classify and explain the examples.

  John B. Conway

  Example, Purpose, Mathematics

  John B. Conway (1981). “Subnormal Operators”, Pitman Advanced Publishing Program

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• If you have to prove a theorem, do not rush. First of all, understand fully what the theorem says, try to see clearly what it means. Then check the theorem; it could be false. Examine the consequences, verify as many particular instances as are needed to convince yourself of the truth. When you have satisfied yourself that the theorem is true, you can start proving it.

  George Polya

  Truth, Mean, Math

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• Combinatorial analysis, in the trivial sense of manipulating binomial and multinomial coefficients, and formally expanding powers of infinite series by applications ad libitum and ad nauseamque of the multinomial theorem, represented the best that academic mathematics could do in the Germany of the late 18th century.

  Richard Askey

  Science, Germany, Analysis

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• Share prices follow the theorem: hope divided by fear minus greed.

  Dominic Lawson

  Greed, Share, Minus

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