--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Still more astonishing is that world of…" description: "\"Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.\" — Gregory Bateson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png" --- # Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy… ![“Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.” quote by Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png) > “Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.” [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mathematics is a disciplined imagination that constructs precise, internally consistent worlds, revealing structures beyond everyday perception. **In simple terms:** Math is a rigorous fantasy that uncovers hidden order. Key Takeaway Mathematics blends imagination with strict logic. Themes mathematics imagination rigor abstract thinking Mood curiosity awe Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - designing algorithms - theoretical physics - cryptography Key Concepts formal systems conceptual modeling Practical Applications - Use visual metaphors to grasp abstract concepts - Practice proof‑writing to sharpen logical rigor Questions to Reflect On - Why does mathematics feel like a fantasy? - How can we bridge abstract math with real‑world problems? A Different Perspective Excessive abstraction can detach mathematics from practical relevance, limiting accessibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math/) [Math and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math-and-love/) [Math love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math-love/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Numbers and math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers-and-math/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy we call mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-we-call/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Arithmetic is numbers you squeeze from your head to your hand to your pencil to your paper till you get the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/arithmetic-is-numbers-you-squeeze-from-your-head-to-your-hand-to-your/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/arithmetic-is-where-numbers-fly-like-pigeons-in-and-out-of-your-head/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [The cowboys have a way of trussing up a steer or a pugnacious bronco which fixes the brute so that it can neither move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bell/the-cowboys-have-a-way-of-trussing-up-a-steer-or-a-pugnacious-bronco/) Eric Bell > [With my full philosophical rucksack I can only climb slowly up the mountain of mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/with-my-full-philosophical-rucksack-i-can-only-climb-slowly-up-the/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [Mathematics is as much an aspect of culture as it is a collection of algorithms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-benjamin-boyer/mathematics-is-as-much-an-aspect-of-culture-as-it-is-a-collection-of/) Carl Benjamin Boyer > [If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/if-a-man-s-wit-be-wandering-let-him-study-the-mathematics-for-in/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [But mathematics is the sister, as well as the servant, of the arts and is touched with the same madness and genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marston-morse/but-mathematics-is-the-sister-as-well-as-the-servant-of-the-arts-and-2/) Marston Morse > [To most outsiders, modern mathematics is unknown territory. Its borders are protected by dense thickets of technical terms; its landscapes are a mass of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivars-peterson/to-most-outsiders-modern-mathematics-is-unknown-territory-its-borders/) [Ivars Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivars-peterson/) > [Even stranger things have happened; and perhaps the strangest of all is the marvel that mathematics should be possible to a race akin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-temple-bell/even-stranger-things-have-happened-and-perhaps-the-strangest-of-all/) [Eric Temple Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-temple-bell/) > [Mathematics is the only good metaphysics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/mathematics-is-the-only-good-metaphysics/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Few realize that the world of modern mathematics is rich with vivid images and provocative ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivars-peterson/few-realize-that-the-world-of-modern-mathematics-is-rich-with-vivid/) [Ivars Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivars-peterson/) > [The mathematics are distinguished by a particular privilege, that is, in the course of ages, they may always advance and can never recede.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-mathematics-are-distinguished-by-a-particular-privilege-that-is/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [It is not the job of mathematicians... to do correct arithmetical operations. It is the job of bank accountants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuil-shatunovsky/it-is-not-the-job-of-mathematicians-to-do-correct-arithmetical/) Samuil Shatunovsky ## More by Gregory Bateson > [Number is different from quantity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/number-is-different-from-quantity/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [We do not know enough about how the present will lead into the future. We shall never be able to say, "Ha! My perception,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/we-do-not-know-enough-about-how-the-present-will-lead-into-the-future/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Synaptic summation is the technical term used in neurophysiology for those instances in which some neuron C is fired only by a combination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/synaptic-summation-is-the-technical-term-used-in-neurophysiology-for/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Somebody was saying to Picasso that he ought to make pictures of things the way they are-objective pictures. He mumbled that he wasn't quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/somebody-was-saying-to-picasso-that-he-ought-to-make-pictures-of/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [What is true is that the idea of power corrupts. Power corrupts most rapidly those who believe in it, and it is they who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/what-is-true-is-that-the-idea-of-power-corrupts-power-corrupts-most/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [“A little hypocrisy and a little compromise oils the wheels of social life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/a-little-hypocrisy-and-a-little-compromise-oils-the-wheels-of-social/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Science, like art, religion, commerce, warfare, and even sleep, is based on presuppositions. It differs, however, from most other branches of human activity in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/science-like-art-religion-commerce-warfare-and-even-sleep-is-based-on/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Desired substance, things, patterns, or sequences of experience that are in some sense "good" for the organism - items of diet, conditions of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/desired-substance-things-patterns-or-sequences-of-experience-that-are/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [No organism can afford to be conscious of matters with which it could deal at unconscious levels. Broadly, we can afford to sink those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/no-organism-can-afford-to-be-conscious-of-matters-with-which-it-could/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Wisdom is the intelligence of the system as a whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/wisdom-is-the-intelligence-of-the-system-as-a-whole/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy we call mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-we-call/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [The pathology is to want control, not that you ever get it, because of course you never do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/the-pathology-is-to-want-control-not-that-you-ever-get-it-because-of/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Our initial sensory data are always "first derivatives," statements about differences which exist among external objects or statements about changes which occur either in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/our-initial-sensory-data-are-always-first-derivatives-statements/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Multiple descriptions are better than one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/multiple-descriptions-are-better-than-one/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [Every move we make in fear of the next war in fact hastens it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/every-move-we-make-in-fear-of-the-next-war-in-fact-hastens-it/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) [Explore all 94 Gregory Bateson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) ## More Astonishing quotes > [It's astonishing what you learn and feel and see along the way. That's why a reporter's job, as you know, is such a joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/it-s-astonishing-what-you-learn-and-feel-and-see-along-the-way-that-s/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A first novel of astonishing force, craft and beauty, The Headmaster's Wager conjures up a dizzyingly evocative wartime Saigon in the story of Percival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-y-k-lee-2/a-first-novel-of-astonishing-force-craft-and-beauty-the-headmaster-s/) Janice Y. K. Lee > [“What is astonishing is that we, who had no idea how anything was going to turn out, now know exactly what happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/what-is-astonishing-is-that-we-who-had-no-idea-how-anything-was-going/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [It's a great historical joke that when the Spanish met the Aztecs, it was a blind date made in serve-you-right heaven. At the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/it-s-a-great-historical-joke-that-when-the-spanish-met-the-aztecs-it/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [It was astonishing when at one point, I got the idea of how to make artifical clouds with a collaborator, we had pictures made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/it-was-astonishing-when-at-one-point-i-got-the-idea-of-how-to-make/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Although there may be nothing new under the sun, what is old is new to us and so rich and astonishing that we never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/although-there-may-be-nothing-new-under-the-sun-what-is-old-is-new-to/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [The astonishing thing for me is that I had a career before politics and I never thought about my colour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-gyimah/the-astonishing-thing-for-me-is-that-i-had-a-career-before-politics/) [Sam Gyimah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-gyimah/) > [“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [It's Twitter's combination of simplicity and complexity that is astonishing in the same way that minimalist sculpture was inspiring and enlightening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-goldsmith/it-s-twitter-s-combination-of-simplicity-and-complexity-that-is/) [Kenneth Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-goldsmith/) > [All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/all-that-we-don-t-know-is-astonishing-even-more-astonishing-is-what/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [“No one ever said aloud any of the kinds of things he was so constantly thinking, because no one in the parish, not Alice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/no-one-ever-said-aloud-any-of-the-kinds-of-things-he-was-so/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [If you worry less about what people think of you, you can pick up an astonishing amount of information about them. You no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/if-you-worry-less-about-what-people-think-of-you-you-can-pick-up-an/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [The Bureau of Justice reports that one in three black male babies born this century will go to jail or prison - that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/the-bureau-of-justice-reports-that-one-in-three-black-male-babies/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/what-astonishing-changes-a-few-years-are-capable-of-producing-i-am/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) Browse all 410 Astonishing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gregory Bateson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astonishing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/023/gregory-bateson-7135_astonishing_still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of_103946.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.” — Gregory Bateson", "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": "Gregory Bateson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Still more astonishing is that world...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/#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 } } ] } ```