---
title: "1 Thing Paper Quotes By John Edensor Littlewood"
description: "1 Thing Paper quotes by John Edensor Littlewood. Plus more from John Edensor Littlewood and more Thing Paper sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf4/john-edensor-littlewood-23851_math_the-surprising-thing-about-this-paper-is_1282316.png"
---

> [The surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/the-surprising-thing-about-this-paper-is-that-a-man-who-could-write/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf4/john-edensor-littlewood-23851_math_the-surprising-thing-about-this-paper-is_1282316.png)

## More by John Edensor Littlewood

> [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [A good mathematical joke is better, and better mathematics, than a dozen mediocre papers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/a-good-mathematical-joke-is-better-and-better-mathematics-than-a/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [Mathematics is a dangerous profession; an appreciable proportion of us go mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/mathematics-is-a-dangerous-profession-an-appreciable-proportion-of-us/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [The first test of potential in mathematics is whether you can get anything out of geometry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/the-first-test-of-potential-in-mathematics-is-whether-you-can-get/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [A precisian professor had the habit of saying: "... quartic polynomial ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e , where e need not be the base of the natural logarithms."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/a-precisian-professor-had-the-habit-of-saying-quartic-polynomial-ax-4/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [I recall once saying that when I had given the same lecture several times I couldn't help feeling that they really ought to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/i-recall-once-saying-that-when-i-had-given-the-same-lecture-several/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [The theory of numbers is particularly liable to the accusation that some of its problems are the wrong sort of questions to ask. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/the-theory-of-numbers-is-particularly-liable-to-the-accusation-that/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [The higher mental activities are pretty tough and resilient, but it is a devastating experience if the drive does stop. Some people lose it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/the-higher-mental-activities-are-pretty-tough-and-resilient-but-it-is/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [The referee said it was not acceptable, but the Press considered they could not refuse to publish a book by a professor of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/the-referee-said-it-was-not-acceptable-but-the-press-considered-they/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [ I constantly meet people who are doubtful, generally without due reason, about their potential capacity \[as mathematicians\]. The first test is whether you got… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/i-constantly-meet-people-who-are-doubtful-generally-without-due/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [I read in the proof sheets of Hardy on Ramanujan: "As someone said, each of the positive integers was one of his personal friends."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/i-read-in-the-proof-sheets-of-hardy-on-ramanujan-as-someone-said-each/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [The surprising thing about this paper is that a man who could write it would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/the-surprising-thing-about-this-paper-is-that-a-man-who-could-write/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [A linguist would be shocked to learn that if a set is not closed this does not mean that it is open, or again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/a-linguist-would-be-shocked-to-learn-that-if-a-set-is-not-closed-this/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [I've been giving this lecture to first-year classes for over twenty-five years. You'd think they would begin to understand it by now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/i-ve-been-giving-this-lecture-to-first-year-classes-for-over-twenty/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

> [It is true that I should have been surprised in the past to learn that Professor Hardy had joined the Oxford Group. But one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/it-is-true-that-i-should-have-been-surprised-in-the-past-to-learn/)

[John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/)

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