--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Do not imagine that mathematics is hard…" description: "\"Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.\" — Lord Kelvin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/lord-kelvin-10819_common_do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-hard_392349.png" --- # Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and… ![“Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.” quote by Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/lord-kelvin-10819_common_do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-hard_392349.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/lord-kelvin-10819_common_do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-hard_392349.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dfe/lord-kelvin-10819_common_do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-hard_392349.png) > “Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.” [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) ## 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 an elegant extension of everyday reasoning, not a foreign, harsh discipline. **In simple terms:** Math is common sense made precise. Key Takeaway Embrace math as intuitive. Themes education mathematics logic Mood inquisitive optimistic Type lecture inspirational When to use this quote - teaching - self‑study - problem solving Key Concepts philosophy of science epistemology Questions to Reflect On - In what ways does math mirror daily reasoning? - How can we make math feel less alien? A Different Perspective Mathematics can feel abstract without clear examples. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-sense/) [Math](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/math/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [Do not imagine that mathematics is harsh and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealisation of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-harsh-and-crabbed-and-repulsive-to/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Madness comes from God, whereas sober sense is merely human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/madness-comes-from-god-whereas-sober-sense-is-merely-human/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Mathematics was hard, dull work. Geography pleased me more. For dancing I was quite enthusiastic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/mathematics-was-hard-dull-work-geography-pleased-me-more-for-dancing/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [Mathematics was hard, dull work, I thought; geography pleased me more. For my other studies, as well as for dancing, I was quite enthusiastic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-audubon/mathematics-was-hard-dull-work-i-thought-geography-pleased-me-more/) [John James Audubon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-audubon/) > [“Felicity was horrible and snide, but then Felicity had been a repulsive earwig ever since she first grew a vocabulary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carriger/felicity-was-horrible-and-snide-but-then-felicity-had-been-a/) [Gail Carriger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carriger/) > [Repulsive, humiliating advice usually comes from bad intentions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/repulsive-humiliating-advice-usually-comes-from-bad-intentions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Yet there must be something repulsive about her somewhere, something more repelling than just a pair of eyes that couldn't see, for she'd been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverly-butler/yet-there-must-be-something-repulsive-about-her-somewhere-something/) Beverly Butler > [“I've noticed while cooking, how ingredients in their individual and naked state and be a bit repulsive but necessary, kind of like people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/i-ve-noticed-while-cooking-how-ingredients-in-their-individual-and/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [Perhaps it's just me, but I am wary of any persons whose belief system is the only thing standing between them and repulsive behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frans-de-waal/perhaps-it-s-just-me-but-i-am-wary-of-any-persons-whose-belief-system/) [Frans de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frans-de-waal/) > [“Approach what you find repulsive, help the ones you think you cannot help, and go places that scare you. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/machik-labdr-n/approach-what-you-find-repulsive-help-the-ones-you-think-you-cannot/) Machik Labdron > [“Alice started to understand why people found her repulsive. 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But in no true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/christianity-without-the-cross-is-nothing-the-cross-was-the-fitting/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you study science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-study-science-deep-enough-and-long-enough-it-will-force-you-to/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-are-face-to-face-with-a-difficulty-you-are-up-against-a/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-often-say-that-when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you cannot measure it, then it is not science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-cannot-measure-it-then-it-is-not-science/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Simplification of modes of proof is not merely an indication of advance in our knowledge of a subject, but is also the surest guarantee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/simplification-of-modes-of-proof-is-not-merely-an-indication-of/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Quaternions came from Hamilton after his really good work had been done, and though beautifully ingenious, have been an unmixed evil to those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/quaternions-came-from-hamilton-after-his-really-good-work-had-been/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Let nobody be afraid of true freedom of thought. 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