James C. Maxwell Quotes

One can imagine that the ultimate mathematician is one who can see analogies between analogies.

Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.

The math helps you have better understanding and helps you have more creative ideas, but you can't replace the creative ideas

I guess law was always interesting to me because you deal with constants. I like to deal with constants, abstracts, constants and reason and ration, rational approaches to things. I don't know, I never really thought why I wanted to study law. But if you ask me whether I would do it again, absolutely.

One of the most amazing things about mathematics is the people who do math aren't usually interested in application, because mathematics itself is truly a beautiful art form. It's structures and patterns, and that's what we love, and that's what we get off on.

Mathematics are the result of mysterious powers which no one understands, and which the unconscious recognition of beauty must play an important part. Out of an infinity of designs a mathematician chooses one pattern for beauty's sake and pulls it down to earth.

Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.

I think part of the appeal of mathematical logic is that the formulas look mysterious - You write backward Es!

Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper.

It is impossible to be a mathematician without being a poet in soul.

Mathematicians always like a deceptively difficult problem.

Mathematicians have a certain type of mind, and climbers have a certain type of mind, because climbing poses these incredibly interesting problems for them.

Mathematics is pure language - the language of science. It is unique among languages in its ability to provide precise expression for every thought or concept that can be formulated in its terms.

Dull minds are never either intuitive or mathematical.

Algebra is the intellectual instrument which has been created for rendering clear the quantitative aspects of the world.

Every good mathematician should also be a good chess player and vice versa.

The capacity to reason is a special sort of capacity because it can lead us to places that we did not expect to go.

I think that great programming is not all that dissimilar to great art. Once you start thinking in concepts of programming it makes you a better person...as does learning a foreign language, as does learning math, as does learning how to read.

Mathematics has the inhuman quality of starlight, brilliant and sharp, but cold.

Beginning to reason is like stepping onto an escalator that leads upward and out of sight. Once we take the first step, the distance to be traveled is independent of our will and we cannot know in advance where we shall end.

Pure mathematics consists entirely of assertions to the effect that, if such and such a proposition is true of anything, then suchand such another proposition is true of that thing.... Thus mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.

Magnitudes are algebraically represented by letter, men by men of letters, and so on.

And as to the faculties of the mind, setting aside the arts grounded upon words, and especially that skill of proceeding upon generall, and infallible rules, called Science; which very few have, and but in few things; as being not a native faculty, born within us; nor attained, (as Prudence,) while we look after somewhat else.

Being clever was when you looked at how things were and used the evidence to work out something new.

It's strange how few of the world's great problems are solved by people who remember their algebra.