--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I myself, a professional mathematician…" description: "\"I myself, a professional mathematician, on re-reading my own work find it strains my mental powers to recall to mind from the figures the meanings of t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/johannes-kepler-4278_becoming_i-myself-a-professional-mathematician-on_1759906.png" --- # I myself, a professional mathematician, on re-reading my… ![“I myself, a professional mathematician, on re-reading my own work find it strains my mental powers to recall to mind from the figures the meanings of the demonstrations, meanings which I myself originally put into the figures and the text from my mind. But when I attempt to remedy the obscurity of…” quote by Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/johannes-kepler-4278_becoming_i-myself-a-professional-mathematician-on_1759906.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/johannes-kepler-4278_becoming_i-myself-a-professional-mathematician-on_1759906.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce3/johannes-kepler-4278_becoming_i-myself-a-professional-mathematician-on_1759906.png) > “I myself, a professional mathematician, on re-reading my own work find it strains my mental powers to recall to mind from the figures the meanings of the demonstrations, meanings which I myself originally put into the figures and the text from my mind. But when I attempt to remedy the obscurity of the material by putting in extra words, I see myself falling into the opposite fault of becoming chatty in something mathematical.” [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author finds his own mathematical writings hard to understand later, and adding more words makes them overly verbose. **In simple terms:** Hard to reread his own math; extra words cause verbosity. Key Takeaway Balance clarity with conciseness. Themes clarity communication mathematics Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic writing - self‑review - teaching - research documentation Key Concepts cognitive load exposition precision Questions to Reflect On - How can complex ideas be expressed clearly without excess? - What strategies help retain meaning when revisiting one’s work? A Different Perspective Too much detail can obscure meaning, but too little can confuse readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Chatty Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chatty-mathematical-1682496/) [Demonstration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demonstration/) [Extras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extras/) [Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall/) [Faults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faults/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Materials](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materials/) [Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical/) [Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [Mathematician Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician-reading-1682497/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Mental power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-power/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-figures-1682498/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Obscurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscurity/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Publication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/publication/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reading Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading-work-399351/) [Recall Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recall-mind-906860/) [Recalls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recalls/) [Remedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remedy/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Strain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strain/) ## Related quotes > [It is a great proof of talents to be able to recall the mind from the senses, and to separate thought from habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/it-is-a-great-proof-of-talents-to-be-able-to-recall-the-mind-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [ “\[...\] I could not go on for ever so: I want to enjoy my own faculties as well as to cultivate those of other… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/i-could-not-go-on-for-ever-so-i-want-to-enjoy-my-own-faculties-as/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [I suppose if I was to have to pick a few, Ursula LeGuin would have to top the list. 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Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“So it may be that reading your work aloud will not only improve its quality but save your life in the process.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/so-it-may-be-that-reading-your-work-aloud-will-not-only-improve-its/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [Reading is the work of the alert mind, is demanding, and under ideal conditions produces finally a sort of ecstasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/reading-is-the-work-of-the-alert-mind-is-demanding-and-under-ideal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One feels like crawling on all fours after reading your work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/one-feels-like-crawling-on-all-fours-after-reading-your-work/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I try to deal with my serious reading before work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-shalala/i-try-to-deal-with-my-serious-reading-before-work/) [Donna Shalala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-shalala/) > [Reading is not work, not a chore, not a drudgery; reading is the most joyful thing, yet, in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/reading-is-not-work-not-a-chore-not-a-drudgery-reading-is-the-most/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [All writers want to know that someone is reading their work, taking them seriously. 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God wanted us to recognize them by creating us after his own image so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/those-laws-are-within-the-grasp-of-the-human-mind-god-wanted-us-to/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [Just as the eye was made to see colours, and the ear to hear sounds, so the human mind was made to understand, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/just-as-the-eye-was-made-to-see-colours-and-the-ear-to-hear-sounds-so/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [I had the intention of becoming a theologian...but now I see how God is, by my endeavors, also glorified in astronomy, for 'the heavens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/i-had-the-intention-of-becoming-a-theologian-but-now-i-see-how-god-is/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [ \[Quantity is the fundamental feature of things,\] the 'primarium accidens substantiae,' ...prior to the other categories. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/quantity-is-the-fundamental-feature-of-things-the-primarium-accidens/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [Repudiating the sensible world, which he neither sees himself nor believes from those who have, the Peripatetic joins combat by childish quibbling in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/repudiating-the-sensible-world-which-he-neither-sees-himself-nor/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [If the earth were not round, heavy bodies would not tend from every side in a straight line towards the center of the earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/if-the-earth-were-not-round-heavy-bodies-would-not-tend-from-every/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [Wherever there are qualities there are likewise quantities, but not always vice versa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/wherever-there-are-qualities-there-are-likewise-quantities-but-not/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [Where there is matter, there is geometry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/where-there-is-matter-there-is-geometry/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [The soul of the newly born baby is marked for life by the pattern of the stars at the moment it comes into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/the-soul-of-the-newly-born-baby-is-marked-for-life-by-the-pattern-of/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [ So, Fabricius, I already have this: that the most true path of the planet \[Mars\] is an ellipse, which Dürer also calls an oval,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johannes-kepler/so-fabricius-i-already-have-this-that-the-most-true-path-of-the/) [Johannes Kepler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johannes-kepler/) > [Ships and sails proper for the heavenly air should be fashioned. 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