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Pythagoras says that number is the origin of all things, and certainly the law of number is the key that unlocks the secrets of the universe. But the law of number possesses an immanent order, which is at first sight mystifying, but on a more intimate acquaintance we easily understand it to be intrinsically necessary; and this law of number explains the wondrous consistency of the laws of nature.

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Source: "Reflections on Magic Squares" in The Monist, Vol. 16 (1906), p. 139
Source quality: Precise citation Points to a specific work with a page, chapter, date or similar locator, so you can look it up.

More by Paul Carus

The deva asked,
What causes ruin in the world?
What breaks off friendships?
What is the most violent fever?
Who is the best physician?"
The Blessed One replied,
Ruin in the world is caused by ignorance;
friendships are broken off by envy and selfishness;
the most violent fever is hatred;
the best physician is the Buddha.

The Gospel of Buddha (1894)

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More quotes by Paul Carus

There is no prophet which preaches the superpersonal God more plainly than mathematics.

The facts of our soul-life must be investigated and stated with scientific accuracy, and our clergy should be taught to purify religion with the criticism of scientific methods.

Homilies of Science (1892)

There is no science which teaches the harmonies of nature more clearly than mathematics.

Introduction to Magic Squares and Cubes (1908)

No one saves us but ourselves,
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path
Buddhas merely teach the way.
By ourselves is evil done,
By ourselves we pain endure,
By ourselves we cease from wrong,
By ourselves become we pure.

The truth is that other systems of geometry are possible, yet after all, these other systems are not spaces but other methods of space measurements. There is one space only, though we may conceive of many different manifolds, which are contrivances or ideal constructions invented for the purpose of determining space.

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