If you have to prove a theorem, do not rush. First of all, understand fully what the theorem says, try to see clearly what it means. Then check the theorem; it could be false. Examine the consequences, verify as many… — George Polya Copy Share Image
Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. To apply a rule to the letter, rigidly, unquestioningly, in cases where it fits and in… — George Polya Copy Share
A GREAT discovery solves a great problem but there is a grain of discovery in any problem. — George Polya Copy Share
Where should I start? Start from the statement of the problem. ... What can I do? Visualize the problem as a whole as clearly… — George Polya Copy Share
In order to translate a sentence from English into French two things are necessary. First, we must understand thoroughly the English sentence. Second, we… — George Polya Copy Share
Look around when you have got your first mushroom or made your first discovery: they grow in clusters. — George Polya Copy Share
I am too good for philosophy and not good enough for physics. Mathematics is in between. — George Polya Copy Share
Solving problems is a practical art, like swimming, or skiing, or playing the piano: you can learn it only by imitation and practice. — George Polya Copy Share
An idea which can be used only once is a trick. If one can use it more than once it becomes a method. — George Polya Copy Share
To teach effectively a teacher must develop a feeling for his subject; he cannot make his students sense its vitality if he does not… — George Polya Copy Share
The world is anxious to admire that apex and culmination of modern mathematics: a theorem so perfectly general that no particular application of it… — George Polya Copy Share
The first rule of discovery is to have brains and good luck. The second rule of discovery is to sit tight and wait till… — George Polya Copy Share
Hilbert once had a student in mathematics who stopped coming to his lectures, and he was finally told the young man had gone off… — George Polya Copy Share
An idea which can be used once is a trick. If it can be used more than once it becomes a method. — George Polya Copy Share
