--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mathematicians are the priests of the…" description: "\"The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world.\" — Bill Gaede" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png" --- # The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world. ![“The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world.” quote by Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png) > “The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world.” [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mathematicians shape modern society like priests shape spiritual life, guiding through abstract truths. **In simple terms:** Mathematicians guide modern world. Key Takeaway Respect and understand their influence. Themes science mathematics society influence Mood respectful thoughtful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - education - policy making - technology development - public discourse Key Concepts abstract reasoning logic structure Questions to Reflect On - How do mathematicians affect daily life? - What responsibilities come with such influence? A Different Perspective Their impact can be overstated without acknowledging other fields. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [Mathematicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematicians/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Modern world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-world/) [Priests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priests/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [If enough money is involved and enough people believe that two plus two equals five the media will report the story with a straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/if-enough-money-is-involved-and-enough-people-believe-that-two-plus/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [I am very glad there are quite a number of people born with a gift and a liking for all of this; like great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-am-very-glad-there-are-quite-a-number-of-people-born-with-a-gift/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [In the broad light of day mathematicians check their equations and their proofs, leaving no stone unturned in their search for rigour. But, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-atiyah/in-the-broad-light-of-day-mathematicians-check-their-equations-and/) [Michael Atiyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-atiyah/) > [The way in which mathematicians and physicists and historians talk is quite different, and what a physicist means by physical intuition and what a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/the-way-in-which-mathematicians-and-physicists-and-historians-talk-is/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [Oh these mathematicians make me tired! When you ask them to work out a sum they take a piece of paper, cover it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/oh-these-mathematicians-make-me-tired-when-you-ask-them-to-work-out-a/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Philosophers and psychiatrists should explain why it is that we mathematicians are in the habit of systematically erasing our footsteps. 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Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [If there should chance to be any mathematicians who, ignorant in mathematics yet pretending to skill in that science, should dare, upon the authority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolaus-copernicus/if-there-should-chance-to-be-any-mathematicians-who-ignorant-in/) [Nicolaus Copernicus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolaus-copernicus/) > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. 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Most of them are too far removed in their ivory towers to take up such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apostolos-doxiadis/as-for-mathematicians-themselves-don-t-expect-too-much-help-most-of/) [Apostolos Doxiadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apostolos-doxiadis/) > [Nobody defines it as something women shouldn't be doing. In a way, there are more mathematicians, more doctors, more scientists in India than there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vandana-shiva/nobody-defines-it-as-something-women-shouldn-t-be-doing-in-a-way/) [Vandana Shiva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vandana-shiva/) ## More by Bill Gaede > [“A geneticist is a geek who claims to have proven through regression analyses that a Neanderthal had sex with your great-grandmother 50,000 years ago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-geneticist-is-a-geek-who-claims-to-have-proven-through-regression/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Science is not about making predictions or performing experiments. Science is about explaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/science-is-not-about-making-predictions-or-performing-experiments/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [For youth, sexual love is whim; for the aged, luxury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/for-youth-sexual-love-is-whim-for-the-aged-luxury/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Atheism is the opium of the mathematicians. Atheism is the religion of Mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/atheism-is-the-opium-of-the-mathematicians-atheism-is-the-religion-of/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Man steps on an ant when he can't catch the fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/man-steps-on-an-ant-when-he-can-t-catch-the-fly/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [A mathematician makes plans to travel backwards in time through a wormhole to a parallel universe when he can't even make it to Mars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-makes-plans-to-travel-backwards-in-time-through-a/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [A mathematician is an individual who believes that prophesying that his dog will die if he deprives it of food constitutes a prediction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-is-an-individual-who-believes-that-prophesying-that/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Today, the rich are the haves and the poor are the have-nots. Tomorrow, the rich will be the have-food and the poor will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/today-the-rich-are-the-haves-and-the-poor-are-the-have-nots-tomorrow/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [It is the definition of the word 'object' which destroys all religions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/it-is-the-definition-of-the-word-object-which-destroys-all-religions/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [A relativist is an individual who doesn't know the difference between an adjective and an adverb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-relativist-is-an-individual-who-doesn-t-know-the-difference-between/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Extinction catches Man by surprise because no one can even imagine that such a catastrophe can happen to an intelligent species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/extinction-catches-man-by-surprise-because-no-one-can-even-imagine/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [If you can't illustrate 'it', 'it' doens't belong in Physics as a noun! You can't put an article in front. You can't put a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/if-you-can-t-illustrate-it-it-doens-t-belong-in-physics-as-a-noun-you/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [A mathematician is an individual who calls himself a 'physicist' and does 'physics' and physical experiments with abstract concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-is-an-individual-who-calls-himself-a-physicist-and/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [Whereas a novice makes moves until he gets checkmated (proof), a Grand Master realizes 20 moves in advance that it’s futile to continue playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/whereas-a-novice-makes-moves-until-he-gets-checkmated-proof-a-grand/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) > [“A mathematician is an individual who constructs space with 0D particles and then places a bowling ball on this invisible canvas to explain how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/a-mathematician-is-an-individual-who-constructs-space-with-0d/) [Bill Gaede](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) [Explore all 30 Bill Gaede quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/) ## More Mathematician quotes > [“π is a mathematician’s dessert”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-maslakovic/is-a-mathematician-s-dessert/) Neve Maslakovic > [If enough money is involved and enough people believe that two plus two equals five the media will report the story with a straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/if-enough-money-is-involved-and-enough-people-believe-that-two-plus/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [Proof is an idol before which the mathematician tortures himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-eddington/proof-is-an-idol-before-which-the-mathematician-tortures-himself/) [Arthur Eddington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-eddington/) > [Truth is much too complicated to allow anything but approximations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-von-neumann/truth-is-much-too-complicated-to-allow-anything-but-approximations/) [John von Neumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-von-neumann/) > [“I am a mathematician and I can confidently say that the best figure ever produced is your phone number.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/i-am-a-mathematician-and-i-can-confidently-say-that-the-best-figure/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [God is the original Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenchqueen/god-is-the-original-mathematician/) Frenchqueen > [Autism is a big continuum, going from someone who remains nonverbal, all the way up to geniuses on Silicon Valley. And some kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/autism-is-a-big-continuum-going-from-someone-who-remains-nonverbal/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [Every man who is not a monster, a mathematician, or a mad philosopher, is the slave of some woman or other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/every-man-who-is-not-a-monster-a-mathematician-or-a-mad-philosopher/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Et peut-être la posterité me saura gré de lui avoir fait connaître que les Anciens n’ont pas tout su. ( And perhaps, posterity will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-de-fermat/et-peut-tre-la-posterit-me-saura-gr-de-lui-avoir-fait-conna-tre-que/) [Pierre De Fermat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-de-fermat/) > [If you ask ... the man in the street ... the human significance of mathematics, the answer of the world will be, that mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassius-jackson-keyser/if-you-ask-the-man-in-the-street-the-human-significance-of/) [Cassius Jackson Keyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassius-jackson-keyser/) > [As for mathematicians themselves: don't expect too much help. Most of them are too far removed in their ivory towers to take up such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apostolos-doxiadis/as-for-mathematicians-themselves-don-t-expect-too-much-help-most-of/) [Apostolos Doxiadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apostolos-doxiadis/) > [Being a mathematician is a bit like being a manic depressive: you spend your life alternating between giddy elation and black despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-g-krantz/being-a-mathematician-is-a-bit-like-being-a-manic-depressive-you/) Steven G. Krantz > [In mathematics, if I find a new approach to a problem, another mathematician might claim that he has a better, more elegant solution. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/in-mathematics-if-i-find-a-new-approach-to-a-problem-another/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [Some humans are mathematicians-others aren't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/some-humans-are-mathematicians-others-aren-t/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [No form of art repeats or imitates successfully all that can be said by another; the writer conveys his experience of life along a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/no-form-of-art-repeats-or-imitates-successfully-all-that-can-be-said/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) [Browse all 676 Mathematician quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Gaede" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-the-modern-world/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mathematician" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-the-modern-world/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6e/bill-gaede-20559_mathematician_the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-th_805022.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The mathematicians are the priests of the modern world.” — Bill Gaede", "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": "Bill Gaede", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gaede/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The mathematicians are the priests of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-the-modern-world/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gaede/the-mathematicians-are-the-priests-of-the-modern-world/#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 } } ] } ```