"The most important thing about mathematics is how it resides in the human brain."

William Thurston Mathematics See all quotes by William Thurston →

React to this quote

More by William Thurston

“Mathematics is primarily a tool for human thought.”

“People can be fooled into thinking of mathematics as logical, formal, symbolic reasoning. But this is far from reality...computers are far better at formal computation and formal reasoning, but humans are far better mathematicians.”

“When mathematics is explained, formalized and written down, there is a strong tendency to favor symbolic modes of thought at the expense of everything else, because symbols are easier to write and more standardized than other modes of reasoning. But when mathematics loses its connection to our minds, it dissolves into a haze.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It was not knowing that was the seed of madness, loneliness, fear. But there were ways to solve all this. Clarity had made her knowable to the world, and had made her better, had brought her close, sh…"

— Dave Eggers

Literature1970

#mind

"My attachment to these United States is wholly, entirely, absolutely The Revolution, the real world Revolution, which men began here and which has—so to speak—a foothold on earth here. If reactionarie…"

— Rose Wilder Lane

Literature1886–1968

#life

"It is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life; one might as well think of origin of matter. —"

— Charles Darwin

Science1758–1778

#mind

"Joseph Knecht had often noticed that many schoolmates his own age, but even more the younger boys, liked him, sought his friendship, and moreover tended to let him dominate them. They asked him for ad…"

— Hermann Hesse

Literature1861–1948

#friendship