A man who sets out to justify his existence and his activities has to distinguish two different questions. The first is whether the work which he does is worth doing; and the second is why he does it (whatever its… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share Image
Cricket is the only game where you are playing against eleven of the other side and ten of your own. — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
The "seriousness" of a mathematical theorem lies, not in its practical consequences, which are usually negligible, but in the significance of the mathematical ideas… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
No discovery of mine has made, or is likely to make, directly or indirectly, for good or ill, the least difference to the amenity… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics. — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
They [formulae 1.10 - 1.12 of Ramanujan] must be true because, if they were not true, no one would have had the imagination to invent them. — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
When the world is mad, a mathematician may find in mathematics an incomparable anodyne. For mathematics is, of all the arts and sciences, the… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
Asked if he believes in one G-d, a mathematician answered: "Yes, up to isomorphism". — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
No one should ever be bored. … One can be horrified, or disgusted, but one can’t be bored. — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
I propose to put forward an apology for mathematics; and I may be told that it needs none, since there are now few studies… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
For my part, it is difficult for me to say what I owe to Ramanujan - his originality has been a constant source of… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
A mathematician, like a painter or poet, is a maker of patterns. If his patterns are more permanent than theirs, it is because they… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
A month's intelligent instruction in the theory of numbes ought to be twice as instructive, twice as useful, and at least 10 times as… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
The fact is there are few more popular subjects than mathematics. Most people have some appreciation of mathematics, just as most people can enjoy… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
If intellectual curiosity, professional pride, and ambition are the dominant incentives to research, then assuredly no one has a fairer chance of gratifying them… — G. H. Hardy Copy Share
