“Young children simply aren't interested in Fermat. They just want to hear a story and they're not going to let you do anything else.”

— Andrew Wiles

Nova Interview

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Andrew Wiles 19

British mathematician 1953

Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

“I realized that anything to do with Fermat's Last Theorem generates too much interest.”

Andrew Wiles (1953) British mathematician

Nova Interview

“… there are some children who aren't really children at all, they're just pillars of flame that burn everything they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that fall apart when you touch them…”

Sherman Alexie (1966) Native American author and filmmaker

Source: Smoke Signals: A Screenplay

“Children aren't like that, which is why they look so young, 'cause they always have a sense of style and purpose. When they're walking around, they have a very definite purpose, they're walking. And it's a great walk as well, it's not an adult's sort of bemused shuffle, it's that 'I'm going over here.' And you say 'Why are you going over there?' 'Because I have a harmonica.' 'What are you doing with the harmonica?' 'I'm going to put it in the toilet.”

Dylan Moran (1971) Irish actor and comedian

'Why are you doing tha—' 'Enough questions, goodbye!'
On children's attitude.
Like, Totally (2006)

“The main characters in this story, with whom you want to become intimate, are nowhere near here. They aren't expecting you; you mean nothing to them. If you think they're going to get out of their warm beds and travel miles to meet you, you are mistaken.”

Michel Faber book The Crimson Petal and the White

Source: The Crimson Petal and the White (2002), Ch. 1

“Do everything with a mind that lets go. Don’t accept praise or gain or anything else. If you let go a little you a will have a little peace; if you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace; if you let go completely you will have complete peace.”

Ajahn Chah (1918–1992) thai Buddhist monk

“It took me a long time to learn that mistakes aren't good or bad,
they're just mistakes, and you clean them up and go on.”

Kaye Gibbons book A Virtuous Woman

Source: A Virtuous Woman

“I want to hear you laugh,
Don't let the mystery go now.”

Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer

Song lyrics, Singles and rarities
Context: December will be magic again.
Don't miss the brightest star,
Kiss under mistletoe,
I want to hear you laugh,
Don't let the mystery go now.

“Hoping is what people do when they're too lazy to do anything else.”

Tim Winton book Cloudstreet

Part 5, section 19 - p.175
Novels, Cloudstreet (1991)

“In sports, you learn competition means go after it, win it. And not to let anything else interfere. It's something you learn, and it sticks with you. I consider myself an expert in looking into a particular idea or goal and then going after it without anything else in mind… It's always the same kind of thing. You pick a goal, and then you just go after it, accomplish it, and get satisfaction out of that.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947) actor, businessman and politician of Austrian-American heritage

From Cowboys & Indians, the "magazine of the west" (September 2004).
When asked if big-screen success could bring him as much satisfaction as body-building victories
2000s

“Young children simply aren't interested in Fermat. They just want to hear a story and they're not going to let you do anything else.”

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Andrew Wiles 19

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