--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I…" description: "\"I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.\" — Andrew Wiles" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg" --- # I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled… ![“I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.” quote by Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg) > “I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.” [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fermat’s claimed proof likely never existed; his confidence may have been mistaken. **In simple terms:** Fermat probably lacked a proof. Key Takeaway Question assumptions critically. Themes mathematics history skepticism Mood inquisitive analytical Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - research - teaching - academic discourse Key Concepts Proof theory philosophy of math Questions to Reflect On - Why do myths persist in science? - How to verify historic mathematical claims? A Different Perspective Historical claims can inspire false confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fermat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fermat/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“But you are proof that you can think you know someone yet never really know them at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecelia-ahern/but-you-are-proof-that-you-can-think-you-know-someone-yet-never/) [Cecelia Ahern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecelia-ahern/) > [Fermat said he had a proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/fermat-said-he-had-a-proof/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [I realized that anything to do with Fermat's Last Theorem generates too much interest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-realized-that-anything-to-do-with-fermat-s-last-theorem-generates/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [“…his solid body, the weight of him, his movement, all so real, all so there. It doesn’t matter who he is. There are so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-cohen/his-solid-body-the-weight-of-him-his-movement-all-so-real-all-so/) [Kerry Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-cohen/) > [I don't believe anything till I have seen the proof. For anything without proof, I think we should believe the theory that gives us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amish-tripathi/i-don-t-believe-anything-till-i-have-seen-the-proof-for-anything/) [Amish Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amish-tripathi/) > [I confess that Fermat's Theorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, because I could easily lay down a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-confess-that-fermat-s-theorem-as-an-isolated-proposition-has-very/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Fermat never cared to publish his investigations, but was always perfectly ready, as we see from his letters, to acquaint his friends and contemporaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-little-heath/fermat-never-cared-to-publish-his-investigations-but-was-always/) Thomas Little Heath > [A reply to Olbers' attempt in 1816 to entice him to work on Fermat's Theorem. I confess that Fermat's Theorem as an isolated proposition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/a-reply-to-olbers-attempt-in-1816-to-entice-him-to-work-on-fermat-s/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [We are on the verge: Today our program proved Fermat's next-to-last theorem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/we-are-on-the-verge-today-our-program-proved-fermat-s-next-to-last/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [ Before beginning \[to try to prove Fermat's Last Theorem\] I should have to put in three years of intensive study, and I haven't that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hilbert/before-beginning-to-try-to-prove-fermat-s-last-theorem-i-should-have/) [David Hilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hilbert/) > [“Fermat’s last theorem,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/fermat-s-last-theorem/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [“I carried this problem around in my head basically the whole time. I would wake up with it first thing in the morning, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-carried-this-problem-around-in-my-head-basically-the-whole-time-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It cannot be denied that he has had many exceptional ideas, and that he is a highly intelligent man. For my part, however, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-descartes/it-cannot-be-denied-that-he-has-had-many-exceptional-ideas-and-that/) [René Descartes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-descartes/) > [By the time I was a student in high school...I remember succeeding in proving the classic Fermat theorem about an integer multiplied by itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-nash/by-the-time-i-was-a-student-in-high-school-i-remember-succeeding-in/) [John Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-nash/) > [Some mathematics problems look simple, and you try them for a year or so, and then you try them for a hundred years, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/some-mathematics-problems-look-simple-and-you-try-them-for-a-year-or/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Andrew Wiles > [The greatest problem for mathematicians now is probably the Riemann Hypothesis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/the-greatest-problem-for-mathematicians-now-is-probably-the-riemann/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [I loved doing problems in school. I'd take them home and make up new ones of my own. But the best problem I ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-loved-doing-problems-in-school-i-d-take-them-home-and-make-up-new/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [There are proofs that date back to the Greeks that are still valid today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/there-are-proofs-that-date-back-to-the-greeks-that-are-still-valid/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [Perhaps the methods I needed to complete the proof would not be invented for a hundred years. So even if I was on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/perhaps-the-methods-i-needed-to-complete-the-proof-would-not-be/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [However impenetrable it seems, if you don't try it, then you can never do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/however-impenetrable-it-seems-if-you-don-t-try-it-then-you-can-never/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [There's also a sense of freedom. I was so obsessed by this problem that I was thinking about if all the time - when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/there-s-also-a-sense-of-freedom-i-was-so-obsessed-by-this-problem/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [Some mathematics problems look simple, and you try them for a year or so, and then you try them for a hundred years, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/some-mathematics-problems-look-simple-and-you-try-them-for-a-year-or-2/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [Well, some mathematics problems look simple, and you try them for a year or so, and then you try them for a hundred years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/well-some-mathematics-problems-look-simple-and-you-try-them-for-a/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [Mathematics... is a bit like discovering oil. ... But mathematics has one great advantage over oil, in that no one has yet ... found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/mathematics-is-a-bit-like-discovering-oil-but-mathematics-has-one/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [I know it's a rare privilege, but if one can really tackle something in adult life that means that much to you, then it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-know-it-s-a-rare-privilege-but-if-one-can-really-tackle-something/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [That particular odyssey is now over. My mind is now at rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/that-particular-odyssey-is-now-over-my-mind-is-now-at-rest/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [I never use a computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-never-use-a-computer/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [Pure mathematicians just love to try unsolved problems - they love a challenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/pure-mathematicians-just-love-to-try-unsolved-problems-they-love-a/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [I tried to fit it in with some previous broad conceptual understanding of some part of mathematics that would clarify the particular problem I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-tried-to-fit-it-in-with-some-previous-broad-conceptual/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [We've lost something that's been with us for so long, and something that drew a lot of us into mathematics. But perhaps that's always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/we-ve-lost-something-that-s-been-with-us-for-so-long-and-something/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) [Explore all 36 Andrew Wiles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrew Wiles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-think-he-fooled-himself-into/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Believe" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-think-he-fooled-himself-into/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20c/andrew-wiles-17828_believe_i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-thi_1892113.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.” — Andrew Wiles", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Andrew Wiles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't believe Fermat had a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-think-he-fooled-himself-into/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-think-he-fooled-himself-into/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```