---
title: "2 Algebra Quotes By Gian-Carlo Rota"
description: "2 Algebra quotes by Gian-Carlo Rota. Plus more from Gian-Carlo Rota and more Algebra sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/gian-carlo-rota-19795_ads_combinatorics-is-an-honest-subject-no-ad_1611570.jpg"
---

> [Combinatorics is an honest subject. No adèles, no sigma-algebras. You count balls in a box, and you either have the right number or you haven't. You get the feeling that the result you have discovered is forever, because it's concrete.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/combinatorics-is-an-honest-subject-no-ad-les-no-sigma-algebras-you/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fc/gian-carlo-rota-19795_ads_combinatorics-is-an-honest-subject-no-ad_1611570.jpg)

> [Why is it that Serge Lange's Linear Algebra, published by no less a Verlag than Springer, ostentatiously displays the sale of a few thousand copies over a period of fifteen years, while the same title by Seymour Lipschutz in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/why-is-it-that-serge-lange-s-linear-algebra-published-by-no-less-a/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f60/gian-carlo-rota-19795_algebra_why-is-it-that-serge-lange-s-linear-alge_2754698.png)

## Other authors on Algebra

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-donald-trump-30060.jpg) Donald Trump 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/algebra/donald-trump/)

## More by Gian-Carlo Rota

> [Every lecture should state one main point and repeat it over and over, like a theme with variations. An audience is like a herd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/every-lecture-should-state-one-main-point-and-repeat-it-over-and-over/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [God created infinity, and man, unable to understand infinity, had to invent finite sets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/god-created-infinity-and-man-unable-to-understand-infinity-had-to/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Philosophers and psychiatrists should explain why it is that we mathematicians are in the habit of systematically erasing our footsteps. Scientists have always looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/philosophers-and-psychiatrists-should-explain-why-it-is-that-we/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [The lack of real contact between mathematics and biology is either a tragedy, a scandal or a challenge, it is hard to decide which.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/the-lack-of-real-contact-between-mathematics-and-biology-is-either-a/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [The apex of mathematical achievement occurs when two or more fields which were thought to be entirely unrelated turn out to be closely intertwined.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/the-apex-of-mathematical-achievement-occurs-when-two-or-more-fields/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [ \[In mathematics\] There are two kinds of mistakes. There are fatal mistakes that destroy a theory, but there are also contingent ones, which are… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/in-mathematics-there-are-two-kinds-of-mistakes-there-are-fatal/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Every field has its taboos. In algebraic geometry the taboos are (1) writing a draft that can be followed by anyone but two or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/every-field-has-its-taboos-in-algebraic-geometry-the-taboos-are-1/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Running overtime is the one unforgivable error a lecturer can make. After fifty minutes (one microcentury as von Neumann used to say) everybody's attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/running-overtime-is-the-one-unforgivable-error-a-lecturer-can-make/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Nature imitates mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/nature-imitates-mathematics/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Mathematics is the study of analogies between analogies. All science is. Scientists want to show that things that don't look alike are really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/mathematics-is-the-study-of-analogies-between-analogies-all-science/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [If we have no idea why a statement is true, we can still prove it by induction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/if-we-have-no-idea-why-a-statement-is-true-we-can-still-prove-it-by/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Mathematicians also make terrible salesmen. Physicists can discover the same thing as a mathematician and say 'We've discovered a great new law of nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/mathematicians-also-make-terrible-salesmen-physicists-can-discover/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Stan Ulam was lazy, ... He talked too much ... He was self-centered ... . He had an overpowering personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/stan-ulam-was-lazy-he-talked-too-much-he-was-self-centered-he-had-an/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Theorems are not to mathematics what successful courses are to a meal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/theorems-are-not-to-mathematics-what-successful-courses-are-to-a-meal/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

> [Combinatorics is an honest subject. No adèles, no sigma-algebras. You count balls in a box, and you either have the right number or you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/combinatorics-is-an-honest-subject-no-ad-les-no-sigma-algebras-you/)

[Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/)

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