John von Neumann

Truth is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations.

— John von Neumann

Problems are often stated in vague terms... because it is quite uncertain what the problems really are.

— John von Neumann

It would appear that we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should…

— John von Neumann

I would like to make a confession which may seem immoral: I do not believe in Hilbert space anymore.

— John von Neumann

There is no point in being precise if you do not even know what you are talking about.

— John von Neumann

The emphasis on mathematical methods seems to be shifted more towards combinatorics and set theory - and away from the algorithm of…

— John von Neumann

If you tell me precisely what it is a machine cannot do, then I can always make a machine which will do…

— John von Neumann

The calculus was the first achievement of modern mathematics and it is difficult to overestimate its importance. I think it defines more…

— John von Neumann

The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant…

— John von Neumann

Kurt Godel's achievement in modern logic is singular and monumental - indeed it is more than a monument, it is a landmark…

— John von Neumann

If one has really technically penetrated a subject, things that previously seemed in complete contrast, might be purely mathematical transformations of each…

— John Von Neumann

Any one who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin.

— John von Neumann

By and large it is uniformly true in mathematics that there is a time lapse between a mathematical discovery and the moment…

— John von Neumann

I think that it is a relatively good approximation to truth which is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations, that…

— John Von Neumann

The most vitally characteristic fact about mathematics is, in my opinion, its quite peculiar relationship to the natural sciences, or more generally,…

— John Von Neumann

Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random numbers is, of course, in a state of sin.

— John Von Neumann

“When we talk mathematics, we may be discussing a secondary language, built on the primary language truly used by the central nervous…

— John von Neumann

Life is a process which may be abstracted from other media.

— John von Neumann

By and large it is uniformly true that in mathematics there is a time lapse between a mathematical discovery and the moment…

— John Von Neumann

I am thinking about something much more important than bombs. I am thinking about computers.

— John von Neumann

You insist that there is something a machine cannot do. If you tell me precisely what it is a machine cannot do,…

— John von Neumann

I am a little troubled about the tea service in the electronic computer building. Apparently the members of your staff consume several…

— John von Neumann

It is exceptional that one should be able to acquire the understanding of a process without having previously acquired a deep familiarity…

— John von Neumann

You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under…

— John Von Neumann

Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin.

— John von Neumann