Carl Friedrich Gauss: Quotes about mathematics

“One day he said: For the soul there is a satisfaction of a higher type; the material is not at all necessary. Whether I apply mathematics to a couple of clods of dirt, which we call planets, or to purely arithmetical problems, it s just the same; the latter have only a higher charm for me.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science (1955) by Guy Waldo Dunnington. p. 348

Soul , Mathematics , Problem

“If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and as continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

The World of Mathematics (1956) Edited by J. R. Newman

Truth , Mathematics

“It may be true, that men, who are mere mathematicians, have certain specific shortcomings, but that is not the fault of mathematics, for it is equally true of every other exclusive occupation.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Gauss-Schumacher Briefwechsel (1862)
Context: It may be true, that men, who are mere mathematicians, have certain specific shortcomings, but that is not the fault of mathematics, for it is equally true of every other exclusive occupation. So there are mere philologists, mere jurists, mere soldiers, mere merchants, etc. To such idle talk it might further be added: that whenever a certain exclusive occupation is coupled with specific shortcomings, it is likewise almost certainly divorced from certain other shortcomings.

Men , Mathematics

“The study of Euler's works will remain the best school for the different fields of mathematics and nothing else can replace it.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

As quoted by Louise Grinstein, Sally I. Lipsey, Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education (2001) p. 235.

School , Mathematics , Study

“There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for example touching ethics, or our relation to God, or concerning our destiny and our future; but their solution lies wholly beyond us and completely outside the province of science.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

As quoted in The World of Mathematics (1956) Edited by J. R. Newman

God , Mathematics , Problem , Science

“Mathematics is the queen of the sciences.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

As quoted in Gauss zum Gedächtniss (1856) by Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen; Variants: Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations she is entitled to the first rank.
Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. [Die Mathematik ist die Königin der Wissenschaften und die Zahlentheorie ist die Königin der Mathematik.]

Mathematics , Science

“I scarcely believe that in psychology data are present which can be mathematically evaluated. But one cannot know this with certainty, without having made the experiment. God alone is in possession of the mathematical bases of psychic phenomena.”

Carl Friedrich Gauss

As quoted in Carl Friedrich Gauss: Titan of Science (1955) by Guy Waldo Dunnington. p. 306

God , Mathematics