“A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems.”

— Paul Erdős

Widely attributed to Erdős, this actually originates with Alfréd Rényi, according to My Brain Is Open : The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos (1998) by Bruce Schechter, p. 155
Misattributed
Variant: A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.

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Paul Erdős 18

Hungarian mathematician and freelancer 1913–1996

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