Math Quotes by John Edensor Littlewood

John Edensor Littlewood

A good mathematical joke is better, and better mathematics, than a dozen mediocre papers.

Math

Mediocrity

Paper

John Edensor Littlewood

A linguist would be shocked to learn that if a set is not closed this does not mean that it is open, or again that “E is dense in E” does not mean the same thing as “E is dense in itself”.

Learning

Math

Mean

John Edensor Littlewood

A precisian professor had the habit of saying: “… quartic polynomial ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e , where e need not be the base of the natural logarithms.”

Habit

Math

Needs

John Edensor Littlewood

I read in the proof sheets of Hardy on Ramanujan: “As someone said, each of the positive integers was one of his personal friends.” My reaction was, “I wonder who said that; I wish I had.” In the next proof-sheets I read (what now stands), “It was Littlewood who said…”

Friendship

Math

Wish

John Edensor Littlewood

I recall once saying that when I had given the same lecture several times I couldn’t help feeling that they really ought to know it by now.

Feelings

Lectures

Math

John Edensor Littlewood

It is true that I should have been surprised in the past to learn that Professor Hardy had joined the Oxford Group. But one could not say the adverse chance was 1:10. Mathematics is a dangerous profession; an appreciable proportion of us go mad, and then this particular event would be quite likely.

Learning

Math

Past

John Edensor Littlewood

The infinitely competent can be uncreative.

Math

Mathematical

Mathematics

John Edensor Littlewood

The surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would.

Math

Science

Writing

John Edensor Littlewood

The theory of numbers is particularly liable to the accusation that some of its problems are the wrong sort of questions to ask. I do not myself think the danger is serious; either a reasonable amount of concentration leads to new ideas or methods of obvious interest, or else one just leaves the problem alone. “Perfect numbers” certainly never did any good, but then they never did any particular harm.

Math

Numbers

Thinking

Follow The Behaviour University in order to get the greatest quotes from the greatest people of all time so that you can tap into your own greatness.

Gary Lineker

Benoit Mandelbrot

Paul Auster

Talib Kweli

Nicholas Stern

Add

Believe

Book

Change

Class

Composer

Creation

Different

Doe

Failure

Feelings

Firsts

Friendship

Giving

Habit

Learning

Lectures

Life Is Too Short

Light

Mad

Math

Mathematical

Mathematics

May

Mean

Mediocrity

Miscellany

Needs

New Year

Numbers

Paper

Past

People

Problem

Professors

Proportion

Real

Relation

Rocks

Running

Safety

Said

School

Science

Strong

Teaching

Tests

Thinking

Trying

Two

Vices

Warning

Waste

Wish

Would Be

Writing

Years

Math Quotes by John Edensor Littlewood

A good mathematical joke is better, and better mathematics, than a dozen mediocre papers.

A linguist would be shocked to learn that if a set is not closed this does not mean that it is open, or again that “E is dense in E” does not mean the same thing as “E is dense in itself”.

A precisian professor had the habit of saying: “… quartic polynomial ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e , where e need not be the base of the natural logarithms.”

I read in the proof sheets of Hardy on Ramanujan: “As someone said, each of the positive integers was one of his personal friends.” My reaction was, “I wonder who said that; I wish I had.” In the next proof-sheets I read (what now stands), “It was Littlewood who said…”

I recall once saying that when I had given the same lecture several times I couldn’t help feeling that they really ought to know it by now.

It is true that I should have been surprised in the past to learn that Professor Hardy had joined the Oxford Group. But one could not say the adverse chance was 1:10. Mathematics is a dangerous profession; an appreciable proportion of us go mad, and then this particular event would be quite likely.

The infinitely competent can be uncreative.

The surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would.

Get Social with TBU

Math Quotes by

Gary Lineker

Benoit Mandelbrot

Paul Auster

Talib Kweli

Nicholas Stern

Topics by John Edensor Littlewood

Menu

Menu