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Some of his deepest discoveries were reasoned out verbally with very few if any symbols, and those for the most part mere abbreviations of words. Any impatient student of mathematics or science or engineering who is irked by having algebraic symbolism thrust on him should try to get on without it for a week.

— Eric Temple Bell Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science (1938)

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More quotes by Eric Temple Bell

The so-called obvious was repeatedly scrutinized from every angle and was frequently found to be not obvious but false. "Obvious" is the most dangerous word in mathematics.

Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science (1938)

Abstractness, sometimes hurled as a reproach at mathematics, is its chief glory and its surest title to practical usefulness. It is also the source of such beauty as may spring from mathematics.

The Development of Mathematics (1940)

Nearly always it is the recondite and complicated which is elaborated first; and it is only when some relatively unsophisticated mind attacks a problem that its deep simplicity is revealed.

The Development of Mathematics (1940)

Out of fifty mathematical papers presented in brief at such a meeting, it is a rare mathematician indeed who really understands what more than half a dozen are about.

Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science (1938)

Science makes no pretension to eternal truth or absolute truth; some of its rivals do. That science is in some respects inhuman may be the secret of its success in alleviating human misery and mitigating human stupidity.

Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science (1938)

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