I have discovered a truly remarkable proof of this theorem which this margin is too small to contain.

Cuius rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet.

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Note written on the margins of his copy of Claude-Gaspar Bachet's translation of the famous Arithmetica of Diophantus, this was taken as an indication of what became known as Fermat's last theorem, a correct proof for which would be found only 357 years later; as quoted in Number Theory in Science and Communication (1997) by Manfred Robert Schroeder

More quotes by Pierre de Fermat

There is scarcely any one who states purely arithmetical questions, scarcely any who understands them. Is this not because arithmetic has been treated up to this time geometrically rather than arithmetically?

Letter to Frénicle (1657)

And this proposition is generally true for all progressions and for all prime numbers; the proof of which I would send to you, if I were not afraid to be too long.

It is impossible for the cube to be written as a sum of two cubes or a fourth power to be written as a sum of two fourth powers or, in general for any number which is any number which is a power greater than the second to be written as a sum of two like powers. I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.

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

I have discovered a truly remarkable proof of this theorem which this margin is too small to contain.

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