---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been…"
description: "\"Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition rather than by rigorous proofs.\" — Felix Klein"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png"
---

#  Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been most advanced by…

![“Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition rather than by rigorous proofs.” quote by Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png)

> “Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition rather than by rigorous proofs.”

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Mathematics progresses when intuition guides discovery more than strict formalism.

**In simple terms:** Intuition drives math breakthroughs more than rigid proofs.

Key Takeaway

Trust your intuition in problem solving.

Themes

intuition creativity mathematics

Mood

curious inspired

Type

philosophical reflective

When to use this quote

- research
- education
- personal study
- problem solving

Key Concepts

heuristics insight innovation

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you balance intuition with rigor?
- When is intuition insufficient?

A Different Perspective

Intuition can lead to errors without verification.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Advanced Distinguished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advanced-distinguished-1549380/) [Distinguished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinguished/) [Distinguished Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinguished-intuition-1549377/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Intuition Rigorous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition-rigorous-1549379/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Mathematics Advanced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics-advanced-1549378/) [Proof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proof/)

## Related quotes

> [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [Two kinds of reading can be distinguished. I call them reading like a reader and reading like a writer ... when you read like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-smith/two-kinds-of-reading-can-be-distinguished-i-call-them-reading-like-a/)

[Frank Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-smith/)

> [This twenty-year-old boy was distinguished from childhood by strange qualities, a dreamer and an eccentric. A girl fell in love with him, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bulgakov/this-twenty-year-old-boy-was-distinguished-from-childhood-by-strange/)

[Mikhail Bulgakov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bulgakov/)

> [Most lives are not distinguished by great achievements. They are measured by an infinite number of small ones. Each time you do a kindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/most-lives-are-not-distinguished-by-great-achievements-they-are/)

[Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/)

> [James Cameron's films have always been distinguished by ground-breaking technical excellence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/james-cameron-s-films-have-always-been-distinguished-by-ground/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [A large group of us were crowded into the Gestapo hall, and at that moment the circumstances of all our lives were the same.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/a-large-group-of-us-were-crowded-into-the-gestapo-hall-and-at-that/)

[Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/)

> [The faculty of self-help is that which distinguished man from animals; that it is the Godlike element, or holds within itself the Godlike element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-faculty-of-self-help-is-that-which-distinguished-man-from-animals/)

[J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/)

> [Once you grow accustomed to being famous, you do not realize it, but you are never quite your humble, honest self. No matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/once-you-grow-accustomed-to-being-famous-you-do-not-realize-it-but/)

[Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/)

> [Lenity will operate with greater force, in some instances, than rigor. It is, therefore, my first wish, to have my whole conduct distinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/lenity-will-operate-with-greater-force-in-some-instances-than-rigor/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [All I kin git out o' the Wickersham position on prohibition is that the distinguished jurist seems to feel that if we'd let 'em…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kin-hubbard/all-i-kin-git-out-o-the-wickersham-position-on-prohibition-is-that/)

[Kin Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kin-hubbard/)

> [Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [Writing that flirts with incoherence can just as readily flounder as writing characterized by simplicity and composure. There is no reliable formula for originality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/writing-that-flirts-with-incoherence-can-just-as-readily-flounder-as/)

[Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/)

> [The actions of the University in my case make it abundantly clear that the Administration's rhetoric about Harvard's desire to attract and retain the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-geller/the-actions-of-the-university-in-my-case-make-it-abundantly-clear/)

[Margaret Geller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-geller/)

> [Building great public schools and universities, a strong health care system, including keeping the Affordable Care Act, and then an economy that works well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-castro/building-great-public-schools-and-universities-a-strong-health-care/)

[Joaquin Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-castro/)

> [While cities are distinguished by their architecture and physical appearance, Bell and de-Shalit make a compelling case that many major world cities--and their inhabitants--also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-rybczynski/while-cities-are-distinguished-by-their-architecture-and-physical/)

[Witold Rybczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-rybczynski/)

## More by Felix Klein

> [Every one who understands the subject will agree that even the basis on which the scientific explanation of nature rests is intelligible only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/every-one-who-understands-the-subject-will-agree-that-even-the-basis/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [It is well known that the central problem of the whole of modern mathematics is the study of transcendental functions defined by differential equations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/it-is-well-known-that-the-central-problem-of-the-whole-of-modern/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [Mathematics in general is fundamentally the science of self-evident things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/mathematics-in-general-is-fundamentally-the-science-of-self-evident/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [The developing science departs at the same time more and more from its original scope and purpose and threatens to sacrifice its earlier unity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/the-developing-science-departs-at-the-same-time-more-and-more-from/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [The teacher manages to get along still with the cumbersome algebraic analysis, in spite of its difficulties and imperfections, and avoids the smooth infinitesimal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/the-teacher-manages-to-get-along-still-with-the-cumbersome-algebraic/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [Everyone knows what a curve is, until he has studied enough mathematics to become confused through the countless number of possible exceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/everyone-knows-what-a-curve-is-until-he-has-studied-enough/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [The presentation of mathematics in schools should be psychological and not systematic. The teacher, so to speak, should be a diplomat. He must take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/the-presentation-of-mathematics-in-schools-should-be-psychological/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [Regarding the fundamental investigations of mathematics, there is no final ending ... no first beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/regarding-the-fundamental-investigations-of-mathematics-there-is-no/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [Projective geometry has opened up for us with the greatest facility new territories in our science, and has rightly been called the royal road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/projective-geometry-has-opened-up-for-us-with-the-greatest-facility/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [The greatest mathematicians, as Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, always united theory and applications in equal measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/the-greatest-mathematicians-as-archimedes-newton-and-gauss-always/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

> [Among mathematicians in general, three main categories may be distinguished; and perhaps the names logicians, formalists, and intuitionists may serve to characterize them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/among-mathematicians-in-general-three-main-categories-may-be/)

[Felix Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

[Explore all 12 Felix Klein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/)

## More Distinguished quotes

> [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/)

[Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/)

> [Building great public schools and universities, a strong health care system, including keeping the Affordable Care Act, and then an economy that works well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-castro/building-great-public-schools-and-universities-a-strong-health-care/)

[Joaquin Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-castro/)

> [The actions of the University in my case make it abundantly clear that the Administration's rhetoric about Harvard's desire to attract and retain the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-geller/the-actions-of-the-university-in-my-case-make-it-abundantly-clear/)

[Margaret Geller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-geller/)

> [Writing that flirts with incoherence can just as readily flounder as writing characterized by simplicity and composure. There is no reliable formula for originality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/writing-that-flirts-with-incoherence-can-just-as-readily-flounder-as/)

[Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/)

> [Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/original-minds-are-not-distinguished-by-being-the-first-to-see-a-new/)

[Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/)

> [All I kin git out o' the Wickersham position on prohibition is that the distinguished jurist seems to feel that if we'd let 'em…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kin-hubbard/all-i-kin-git-out-o-the-wickersham-position-on-prohibition-is-that/)

[Kin Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kin-hubbard/)

> [Lenity will operate with greater force, in some instances, than rigor. It is, therefore, my first wish, to have my whole conduct distinguished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/lenity-will-operate-with-greater-force-in-some-instances-than-rigor/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [Once you grow accustomed to being famous, you do not realize it, but you are never quite your humble, honest self. No matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/once-you-grow-accustomed-to-being-famous-you-do-not-realize-it-but/)

[Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/)

> [The faculty of self-help is that which distinguished man from animals; that it is the Godlike element, or holds within itself the Godlike element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-faculty-of-self-help-is-that-which-distinguished-man-from-animals/)

[J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/)

> [A large group of us were crowded into the Gestapo hall, and at that moment the circumstances of all our lives were the same.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etty-hillesum/a-large-group-of-us-were-crowded-into-the-gestapo-hall-and-at-that/)

[Etty Hillesum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etty-hillesum/)

> [James Cameron's films have always been distinguished by ground-breaking technical excellence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/james-cameron-s-films-have-always-been-distinguished-by-ground/)

[Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/)

> [Most lives are not distinguished by great achievements. They are measured by an infinite number of small ones. Each time you do a kindness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/most-lives-are-not-distinguished-by-great-achievements-they-are/)

[Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/)

> [This twenty-year-old boy was distinguished from childhood by strange qualities, a dreamer and an eccentric. A girl fell in love with him, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bulgakov/this-twenty-year-old-boy-was-distinguished-from-childhood-by-strange/)

[Mikhail Bulgakov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bulgakov/)

> [Two kinds of reading can be distinguished. I call them reading like a reader and reading like a writer ... when you read like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-smith/two-kinds-of-reading-can-be-distinguished-i-call-them-reading-like-a/)

[Frank Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-smith/)

> [While cities are distinguished by their architecture and physical appearance, Bell and de-Shalit make a compelling case that many major world cities--and their inhabitants--also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/witold-rybczynski/while-cities-are-distinguished-by-their-architecture-and-physical/)

[Witold Rybczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/witold-rybczynski/)

[Browse all 463 Distinguished quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distinguished/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition rather than by rigorous proofs.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Felix Klein"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-most-advanced-by-those-who/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Distinguished"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-most-advanced-by-those-who/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bc/felix-klein-38045_distinguished_thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-mos_1744559.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Thus, in a sense, mathematics has been most advanced by those who distinguished themselves by intuition…” — Felix Klein",
                "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": "Felix Klein",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-klein/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Thus, in a sense, mathematics has...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-most-advanced-by-those-who/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-klein/thus-in-a-sense-mathematics-has-been-most-advanced-by-those-who/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
