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God exists since mathematics is consistent, and the Devil exists since we cannot prove it.

— André Weil

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Mathematics

More quotes by André Weil

We should ask our fellow physicists to invent a principle of anti-interference, which would bring light out of two obscurities (Leray and Grothendieck).

Every mathematician worthy of the name has experienced the state of lucid exaltation in which one thought succeeds another as if miraculously. This feeling may last for hours at a time, even for days.

At the time of our early work these notions cast new light upon subjects which were still shrouded in confusion: even the meaning of the term "isomorphism" varied from one theory to another.

The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician (1992)

Is it mere coincidence that in India Pāṇini's invention of grammar had preceded that of decimal notation and negative numbers, and that later on, both grammar and algebra reached the unparalleled heights for which the medieval civilization of the Arabic-speaking world is known?

The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician (1992)

One day it occurred to me to measure the speed with which such rumors were propagated. All I had to do was to start one - the more preposterous the better - at one end of the stadium, and then hasten to the other end to await the results.

The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician (1992)

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Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.

Kenneth Boulding to Kenneth Boulding in: United States. Congress. House (1973)

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.

William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)

Pure mathematics consists entirely of assertions to the effect that, if such and such a proposition is true of anything, then such and such another proposition is true of that thing.

Bertrand Russell

The land of easy mathematics where he who works adds up and he who retires subtracts.

Núria Añó

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: André Weil (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.