“If two people loved, they slept together; it was a mathematical formula, tested and proved by human experience.”
Source: The End of the Affair
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Graham Greene164
English writer, playwright and literary critic 1904–1991Related quotes
Albert Einstein book The Evolution of Physics
The Evolution of Physics (1938) (co-written with Leopold Infeld)
1930s
“A mathematical formula should never be "owned" by anybody! Mathematics belong to God.”
Donald Ervin Knuth Digital Typography
Digital Typography, ch. 1, p. 8 (1999)
Christian Heinrich von Dillmann (1829–1899) German educationist
Source: Die Mathematik die Fackelträgerin einer neuen Zeit (Stuttgart, 1889), p. 94.
Leo Strauss (1899–1973) Classical philosophy specialist and father of neoconservativism
Source: What is Political Philosophy (1959), p. 40
Context: Men are constantly attracted and deluded by two opposite charms: the charm of competence which is engendered by mathematics and everything akin to mathematics, and the charm of humble awe, which is engendered by meditation on the human soul and its experiences. Philosophy is characterized by the gentle, if firm, refusal to succumb to either charm. It is the highest form of the mating of courage and moderation. In spite of its highness or nobility, it could appear as Sisyphean or ugly, when one contrasts its achievement with its goal. Yet it is necessarily accompanied, sustained and elevated by eros. It is graced by nature's grace.
James Clerk Maxwell book A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (1873), §36.