--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I confess that Fermat 's Theorem as an…" description: "\"“I confess that Fermat 's Theorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, for a multitude of such theorems can easily be set up, wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_fermat_i-confess-that-fermat-s-theorem-as-an-is_2960459.png" --- # I confess that Fermat 's Theorem as an isolated… ![“I confess that Fermat 's Theorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, for a multitude of such theorems can easily be set up, which one could neither prove nor disprove. But I have been stimulated by it to bring our again several old ideas for a great extension of the theory…” quote by Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_fermat_i-confess-that-fermat-s-theorem-as-an-is_2960459.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_fermat_i-confess-that-fermat-s-theorem-as-an-is_2960459.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b29/carl-friedrich-gauss-9412_fermat_i-confess-that-fermat-s-theorem-as-an-is_2960459.png) > ““I confess that Fermat 's Theorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, for a multitude of such theorems can easily be set up, which one could neither prove nor disprove. But I have been stimulated by it to bring our again several old ideas for a great extension of the theory of numbers. Of course, this theory belongs to the things where one cannot predict to what extent one will succeed in reaching obscurely hovering distant goals. A happy star must also rule, and my situation and so manifold distracting affairs of course do not permit me to pursue such meditations as in the happy years 1796-1798 when I created the principal topics of my Disquisitiones arithmeticae. But I am convinced that if good fortune should do more than I expect, and make me successful in some advances in that theory, even the Fermat theorem will appear in it only as one of the least interesting corollaries. { In reply to Olbers ' attempt in 1816 to entice him to work on Fermat 's Theorem. The hope Gauss expressed for his success was never realised .}”” [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Gauss sees Fermat's Last Theorem as a curiosity that spurs broader work in number theory, not as an end in itself. **In simple terms:** Fermat's theorem inspires deeper study of numbers. Key Takeaway Pursue broader ideas, not isolated problems. Themes mathematics curiosity research theory legacy Mood introspective analytical Type historical philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - personal study - historical analysis - theoretical development Key Concepts number theory proof strategies mathematical inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How can a specific problem spark wider discovery? - What value lies in pursuing seemingly abstract questions? A Different Perspective Focused work on a single theorem may limit broader insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fermat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fermat/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [Share prices follow the theorem: hope divided by fear minus greed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-lawson/share-prices-follow-the-theorem-hope-divided-by-fear-minus-greed/) [Dominic Lawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-lawson/) > [“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/) > [“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 is a matter for considerable regret that Fermat, who cultivated the theory of numbers with so much success, did not leave us with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrien-marie-legendre/it-is-a-matter-for-considerable-regret-that-fermat-who-cultivated-the/) Adrien-Marie Legendre ## More by Carl Friedrich Gauss > [To the distracting occupations belong especially my lecture courses which I am holding this winter for the first time, and which now cost much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/to-the-distracting-occupations-belong-especially-my-lecture-courses/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [The total number of Dirichlet's publications is not large: jewels are not weighed on a grocery scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/the-total-number-of-dirichlet-s-publications-is-not-large-jewels-are/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/if-others-would-but-reflect-on-mathematical-truths-as-deeply-and/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [“Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy laws my services are bound... { His second motto, from King Lear by Shakespeare }”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/thou-nature-art-my-goddess-to-thy-laws-my-services-are-bound-his/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I have the vagary of taking a lively interest in mathematical subjects only where I may anticipate ingenious association of ideas and results recommending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-have-the-vagary-of-taking-a-lively-interest-in-mathematical/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Arc, amplitude, and curvature sustain a similar relation to each other as time, motion, and velocity, or as volume, mass, and density.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/arc-amplitude-and-curvature-sustain-a-similar-relation-to-each-other/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for example touching ethics, or our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/there-are-problems-to-whose-solution-i-would-attach-an-infinitely/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/mathematics-is-the-queen-of-sciences-and-number-theory-is-the-queen/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [I protest against the use of infinite magnitude ..., which is never permissible in mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/i-protest-against-the-use-of-infinite-magnitude-which-is-never/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [ It is always noteworthy that all those who seriously study this science \[the theory of numbers\] conceive a sort of passion for it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/it-is-always-noteworthy-that-all-those-who-seriously-study-this/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [You have no idea, how much poetry there is in the calculation of a table of logarithms!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/you-have-no-idea-how-much-poetry-there-is-in-the-calculation-of-a/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [The Infinite is only a manner of speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/the-infinite-is-only-a-manner-of-speaking/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [Sophie Germain proved to the world that even a woman can accomplish something in the most rigorous and abstract of sciences and for that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/sophie-germain-proved-to-the-world-that-even-a-woman-can-accomplish/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [God does arithmetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/god-does-arithmetic/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) > [ Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and arithmetic \[number theory\] is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-friedrich-gauss/mathematics-is-the-queen-of-the-sciences-and-arithmetic-number-theory/) [Carl Friedrich Gauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) [Explore all 73 Carl Friedrich Gauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-friedrich-gauss/) ## More Fermat quotes > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [“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/) > [“Fermat’s last theorem,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/fermat-s-last-theorem/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiles/i-don-t-believe-fermat-had-a-proof-i-think-he-fooled-himself-into/) [Andrew Wiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiles/) > [ 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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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 > [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/) > [It is a matter for considerable regret that Fermat, who cultivated the theory of numbers with so much success, did not leave us with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrien-marie-legendre/it-is-a-matter-for-considerable-regret-that-fermat-who-cultivated-the/) Adrien-Marie Legendre > [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/) [Browse all 15 Fermat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fermat/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I confess that Fermat 's Theorem as an isolated proposition has very little interest for me, for a multitude of such theorems can easily be set up, which one could neither prove nor disprove. 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