--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The mathematician starts with a few…" description: "\"The mathematician starts with a few propositions, the proof of which is so obvious that they are called self-evident, and the rest of his work consists..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/thomas-huxley-1183_authority_the-mathematician-starts-with-a-few-prop_576365.jpg" --- # The mathematician starts with a few propositions, the… ![“The mathematician starts with a few propositions, the proof of which is so obvious that they are called self-evident, and the rest of his work consists of subtle deductions from them. The teaching of languages, at any rate as ordinarily practiced, is of the same general nature authority and…” quote by Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/thomas-huxley-1183_authority_the-mathematician-starts-with-a-few-prop_576365.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/thomas-huxley-1183_authority_the-mathematician-starts-with-a-few-prop_576365.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/thomas-huxley-1183_authority_the-mathematician-starts-with-a-few-prop_576365.jpg) > “The mathematician starts with a few propositions, the proof of which is so obvious that they are called self-evident, and the rest of his work consists of subtle deductions from them. The teaching of languages, at any rate as ordinarily practiced, is of the same general nature authority and tradition furnish the data, and the mental operations are deductive.” [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science builds on a few clear axioms, then proceeds by careful deduction; language teaching follows a similar pattern of authority and deduction. **In simple terms:** Science and language start with basics, then deduce. Key Takeaway Value clear foundations and logical reasoning. Themes methodology deduction education Mood analytical critical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - teaching - research - curriculum design - critical thinking Key Concepts epistemology logic language acquisition Questions to Reflect On - Are foundational assumptions always correct? - How can we balance authority with inquiry? A Different Perspective Reliance on authority can limit creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Deductions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deductions/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [Mathematics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematics/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [All proofs inevitably lead to propositions which have no proof! All things are known because we want to believe in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/all-proofs-inevitably-lead-to-propositions-which-have-no-proof-all/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Deduction, which takes us from the general proposition to facts again-teaches us, if I may so say, to anticipate from the ticket what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/deduction-which-takes-us-from-the-general-proposition-to-facts-again/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Science, in its ultimate ideal, consists of a set of propositions arranged in a hierarchy, the lowest level of the hierarchy being concerned with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/science-in-its-ultimate-ideal-consists-of-a-set-of-propositions/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Wherever Mathematics is mixed up with anything, which is outside its field, you will find attempts to demonstrate these merely conventional propositions a priori,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-gustav-jacob-jacobi/wherever-mathematics-is-mixed-up-with-anything-which-is-outside-its/) [Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-gustav-jacob-jacobi/) > [It seems safe to look forward to the time when the conception of attractive and repulsive forces, having served its purpose as a useful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-seems-safe-to-look-forward-to-the-time-when-the-conception-of/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [The foundation of all morality is to have done, once and for all, with lying; to give up pretending to believe that for which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/the-foundation-of-all-morality-is-to-have-done-once-and-for-all-with/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Give unqualified assent to no propositions but those the truth of which is so clear and distinct that they cannot be doubted. The enunciation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/give-unqualified-assent-to-no-propositions-but-those-the-truth-of/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-wrong-for-a-man-to-say-that-he-is-certain-of-the-objective/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“All mathematical proofs must be deductive. Each proof is a chain of deductive arguments, each of which has its premises and conclusion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-kline/all-mathematical-proofs-must-be-deductive-each-proof-is-a-chain-of/) [Morris Kline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-kline/) > [When you are young in this world, you believe that the class of deductive truths about social matters is larger than it turns out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allen-epstein/when-you-are-young-in-this-world-you-believe-that-the-class-of/) [Richard Allen Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allen-epstein/) > [“All right,” she said. “Inductive reasoning. It’s what those so-called detectives on CSI, SVU, LMNOP and all the rest of them call deductive reasoning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-ide/all-right-she-said-inductive-reasoning-it-s-what-those-so-called/) [Joe Ide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-ide/) > [“There is nothing distinctively scientific about the hypothetico-deductive process. It is not even distinctively intellectual. It is merely a scientific context for a much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-b-medawar/there-is-nothing-distinctively-scientific-about-the-hypothetico/) Peter B. Medawar > [“Your powers of deductive reasoning are stunning," spits Tobias. "Consider me awed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/your-powers-of-deductive-reasoning-are-stunning-spits-tobias-consider/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I am delighted to know that Principia Mathematica can now be done by machinery. . . I am quite willing to believe that anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-am-delighted-to-know-that-principia-mathematica-can-now-be-done-by/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [If a lack of empirical foundations is a defect of the theory of logical probability, it is also a defect of deductive logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-stove/if-a-lack-of-empirical-foundations-is-a-defect-of-the-theory-of/) [David Stove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-stove/) ## More by Thomas Huxley > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [There is nothing of permanent value (putting aside a few human affections) nothing that satisfies quiet reflection--except the sense of having worked according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/there-is-nothing-of-permanent-value-putting-aside-a-few-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/economy-does-not-lie-in-sparing-money-but-in-spending-it-wisely/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [It is not to be forgotten that what we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/it-is-not-to-be-forgotten-that-what-we-call-rational-grounds-for-our/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Only a scientific people can survive in a scientific future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/only-a-scientific-people-can-survive-in-a-scientific-future/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In science, as in art, and, as I believe, in every other sphere of human activity, there may be wisdom in a multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-science-as-in-art-and-as-i-believe-in-every-other-sphere-of-human/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Science is simply common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/science-is-simply-common-sense-at-its-best-that-is-rigidly-accurate/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Oh devil! truth is better than much profit. I have searched over the grounds of my belief, and if wife and child and name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/oh-devil-truth-is-better-than-much-profit-i-have-searched-over-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Let us have "sweet girl graduates" by all means. They will be none the less sweet for a little wisdom; and the "golden hair"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/let-us-have-sweet-girl-graduates-by-all-means-they-will-be-none-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/in-matters-of-the-intellect-do-not-pretend-that-conclusions-are/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [And you very soon find out, if you have not found it out before, that patience and tenacity of purpose are worth more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/and-you-very-soon-find-out-if-you-have-not-found-it-out-before-that/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [No one who has lived in the world as long as you & I have, can entertain the pious delusion that it is engineered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/no-one-who-has-lived-in-the-world-as-long-as-you-i-have-can-entertain/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [Mix salt and sand, and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, to separate all the grains of sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/mix-salt-and-sand-and-it-shall-puzzle-the-wisest-of-men-with-his-mere/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [What are the moral convictions most fondly held by barbarous and semi-barbarous people? They are the convictions that authority is the soundest basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/what-are-the-moral-convictions-most-fondly-held-by-barbarous-and-semi/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) [Explore all 278 Thomas Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. 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Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-execution-was-set-for-the-29th-of-march-at-nine-in-the-morning/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. 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