"More often than not, a piece of mathematics worked out years before—and believed to be totally without practical value—finds a role in the “real” world."

“Most coincidences are simply chance events that turn out to be far more probable than many people imagine.”

“The theory of probability combines commonsense reasoning with calculation. It domesticates luck, making it subservient to reason.”

“Indeed, mathematics is full of conjectures—questions waiting for answers—with no assurance that the answers even exist.”

“Ramsey theory implies that complete disorder is impossible. Somehow, no matter how complicated, chaotic, or random something appears, deep within that morass lurks a smaller entity that has a definite structure. Striking regularities are bound to arise even in a universe that has no rules.”

“The aim of science is to reduce the scope of chance.”

“Randomness, chaos, uncertainty, and chance are all a part of our lives. They reside at the ill-defined boundaries between what we know, what we can know, and what is beyond our knowing. They make life interesting.”