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 same. That is one of their innermost Freudian motivations. In fact, that is what we mean… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
A mathematician's work is mostly a tangle of guesswork, analogy, wishful thinking and frustration, and proof, far from being the core of discovery, is more often than not a way of making sure that our minds are not playing tricks. — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
Every lecture should state one main point and repeat it over and over, like a theme with variations. An audience is like a herd… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
God created infinity, and man, unable to understand infinity, had to invent finite sets. — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
Philosophers and psychiatrists should explain why it is that we mathematicians are in the habit of systematically erasing our footsteps. Scientists have always looked… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
The lack of real contact between mathematics and biology is either a tragedy, a scandal or a challenge, it is hard to decide which. — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
The apex of mathematical achievement occurs when two or more fields which were thought to be entirely unrelated turn out to be closely intertwined.… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
[In mathematics] There are two kinds of mistakes. There are fatal mistakes that destroy a theory, but there are also contingent ones, which are… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
Every field has its taboos. In algebraic geometry the taboos are (1) writing a draft that can be followed by anyone but two or… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
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… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
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… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
If we have no idea why a statement is true, we can still prove it by induction. — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
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.… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
Stan Ulam was lazy, ... He talked too much ... He was self-centered ... . He had an overpowering personality. — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
Theorems are not to mathematics what successful courses are to a meal. — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
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… — Gian-Carlo Rota Copy Share Image
![“[In mathematics] There are two kinds of mistakes. There are fatal mistakes that destroy a theory, but there are also contingent ones, which are useful in testing the stability of a theory.” quote by Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cbc/gian-carlo-rota-19795_failure_in-mathematics-there-are-two-kinds-of-mi_493803.jpg)
