It was not so much that I was doing mathematics, but rather that mathematics had taken possession of me.

Knowing what is big and what is small is more important than being able to solve partial differential equations.

Whatever is worth saying, can be stated in fifty words or less.

I am turned off when I see only formulas and symbols, and little text.

It is still an unending source of surprise for me how a few scribbles on a blackboard or on a piece of paper can change the course of human affairs.

Thoughts are steered in different ways.

The infinite we shall do right away. The finite may take a little longer.

The mathematicians know a great deal about very little and the physicists very little about a great deal.

It is most important in creative science not to give up. If you are an optimist you will be willing to "try" more than if you are a pessimist.

What exactly is mathematics? Many have tried but nobody has really succeeded in defining mathematics; it is always something else.

Do not lose your faith. A mighty fortress is our mathematics. Mathematics will rise to the challenge, as it always has.

Fashion is a distraction!

Do you look like the photograph on your book jackets? Authors, I find, seldom do.

The really clever people now want to be lawyers or journalists.

You don't want to exaggerate any feature noticeably. I think only truly beautiful women can exaggerate and they usually don't have to.

The encore is the short piece after the program has finished, where the performer brings out something that the audience doesn't expect.

In the real world there's an after-effect of disappointment if you lose an argument. But if, to begin with, you're set up not to have this particular autonomy, then you're not disappointed.

A man will fight harder for his interests than for his rights. Men are moved by only two mechanisms: fear and self-interest. Victory belongs to the most persevering.

The way to stay inspired and motivated is by doing what you like, doing what you love.

It is grander to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat a creed.

Business is business, no child's play.