--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps I could best describe my…" description: "\"Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. You go into the first room and it's dark, complet..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/andrew-wiles-17828_dark_perhaps-i-could-best-describe-my-experie_3013497.jpg" --- # Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing… ![“Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. You go into the first room and it's dark, completely dark. You stumble around, bumping into the furniture. Gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is. And finally, after six months or…” quote by Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/andrew-wiles-17828_dark_perhaps-i-could-best-describe-my-experie_3013497.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/andrew-wiles-17828_dark_perhaps-i-could-best-describe-my-experie_3013497.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/20e/andrew-wiles-17828_dark_perhaps-i-could-best-describe-my-experie_3013497.jpg) > “Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. You go into the first room and it's dark, completely dark. You stumble around, bumping into the furniture. Gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is. And finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch and turn it on. Suddenly, it's all illuminated and you can see exactly where you were. Then you enter the next dark room...” [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. Learning mathematics is likened to navigating dark rooms, gradually gaining familiarity until insight illuminates understanding, then moving to new challenges. **In simple terms:** Math learning starts confusing, then becomes clear. Key Takeaway Persist through confusion to achieve insight. Themes learning mathematics growth Mood curious encouraging Type metaphorical educational When to use this quote - studying - research - self‑study - academic work Key Concepts problem solving cognitive development patience Questions to Reflect On - What strategies help when concepts feel opaque? - How do you celebrate small breakthroughs? A Different Perspective Progress may be uneven; setbacks can occur. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Dark room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-room/) [Furniture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furniture/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) ## Related quotes > [Following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in the hand; the darkness will all be cleared away, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/following-the-noble-path-is-like-entering-a-dark-room-with-a-light-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“At that moment he didn’t like mankind, the grown-ups, the adults. He never liked them when it was dark. At such times it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-musil/at-that-moment-he-didn-t-like-mankind-the-grown-ups-the-adults-he/) [Robert Musil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-musil/) > [“It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck thinking we've reached our limitations in life. If we go into a dark room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/it-doesn-t-matter-how-long-we-may-have-been-stuck-thinking-we-ve/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [Yea, sorry I was too disturbing. But look at it this way, I'm not there anymore. You don't have to hear all my stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naquitta-faith/yea-sorry-i-was-too-disturbing-but-look-at-it-this-way-i-m-not-there/) [Naquitta Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naquitta-faith/) > [“We are entering the Dark Ages, my friend, but this time there will be lots of neon, and screen savers, and street lighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-st-aubyn/we-are-entering-the-dark-ages-my-friend-but-this-time-there-will-be/) [Edward St. Aubyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-st-aubyn/) > [“A star cannot enter a dark place without illuminating it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/a-star-cannot-enter-a-dark-place-without-illuminating-it/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [When You Are In The Light, Everything Follows You, But When You Enter Into The Dark, Even Your Own Shadow Doesn't Follow You.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-are-in-the-light-everything-follows-you-but-when-you-enter/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you enter the dark side of life, and come through it, you emerge with more strength and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-kidman/if-you-enter-the-dark-side-of-life-and-come-through-it-you-emerge/) [Nicole Kidman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-kidman/) > [“In order not to make a liar out of Henry or Katherine, one or the other, the committee men think up circumstances in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/in-order-not-to-make-a-liar-out-of-henry-or-katherine-one-or-the/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Sometimes when I am alone in my room in the dark, I practice smiling to myself. I do this to be kind to myself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/sometimes-when-i-am-alone-in-my-room-in-the-dark-i-practice-smiling/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [When you wake up in the morning, feeling like you are the only one in your room & it seems to be dark; dear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott/when-you-wake-up-in-the-morning-feeling-like-you-are-the-only-one-in/) [Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott/) > [It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/it-doesn-t-matter-how-long-we-may-have-been-stuck-in-a-sense-of-our/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [“His room was dark until he switched on his desk lamp. I sat on the floor next to his bed and watched him counting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-anderson-kurk/his-room-was-dark-until-he-switched-on-his-desk-lamp-i-sat-on-the/) [Laura Anderson Kurk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-anderson-kurk/) > [Even a room which must be dark needs at least a crack of light to know how dark it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-kahn/even-a-room-which-must-be-dark-needs-at-least-a-crack-of-light-to/) [Louis Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-kahn/) > ['Room' was a very dark movie, but 'Wonder' is a fun, light movie that sends out an important message. There is a big difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-tremblay/room-was-a-very-dark-movie-but-wonder-is-a-fun-light-movie-that-sends/) [Jacob Tremblay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-tremblay/) ## 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 Dark quotes > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“I could see her will leaving and death seeping through her skin to skewer her soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/i-could-see-her-will-leaving-and-death-seeping-through-her-skin-to/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [The soul wanders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes, there we find our soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-zimmerman/the-soul-wanders-in-the-dark-until-it-finds-love-and-so-wherever-our/) [Mary Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-zimmerman/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [All comedy comes from a dark place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katt-williams/all-comedy-comes-from-a-dark-place/) [Katt Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katt-williams/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Let death bless me with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-death-bless-me-with-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what do you call/that space between the dark geographies of sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethaway/what-do-you-call-that-space-between-the-dark-geographies-of-sex/) Natasha Trethaway > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) Nicole Gentile > [Even in the dark your shadow is like a guide to me! you are my rising sun that brings forth hope just as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkemjika-linus/even-in-the-dark-your-shadow-is-like-a-guide-to-me-you-are-my-rising/) [Nkemjika Linus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkemjika-linus/) [Browse all 10,198 Dark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. You go into the first room and it's dark, completely dark. You stumble around, bumping into the furniture. Gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is. And finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch and turn it on. 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