Quotations

Polya' George (1887, 1985)
Mathematics is the cheapest science. Unlike physics or chemistry, it does not require any expensive equipment. All one needs for mathematics is a pencil and paper.
D. J. Albers and G. L. Alexanderson, Mathematical People, Boston: Birkh�ser, 1985.

Mathematics consists of proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way.
In N. Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims, Raleigh NC:Rome Press Inc., 1988.

Harris, Sydney J.
The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.
In H. Eves Return to Mathematical Circles, Boston: Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, 1988.

Hawking, Stephen Williams (1942- )

God not only plays dice. He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen.
[See related quotation from Albert Einstein.] Nature 1975 257.

Heisenberg, Werner (1901-1976)

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject, and how to avoid them.
Physics and Beyond. 1971.

Seneca

If you would make a man happy, do not add to his possessions but subtract from the sum of his desires.
In H. Eves Return to Mathematical Circles, Boston: Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, 1988.

Allen, Woody Standard mathematics has recently been rendered obsolete by the discovery that for years we have been writing the numeral five backward. This has led to reevaluation of counting as a method of getting from one to ten. Students are taught advanced concepts of Boolean algebra, and formerly unsolvable equations are dealt with by threats of reprisals.
In Howard Eves' Return to Mathematical Circles, Boston: Prindle, Weber, and Schmidt, 1988.

Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1945 - )

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.
Gödel, Escher, Bach 1979.