“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.”

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

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for …" by Carl Friedrich Gauss?

Carl Friedrich Gauss50

German mathematician and physical scientist 1777–1855

Related quotes

“Certain changes have been going on in business practice which are destined, I believe, to alter our thinking fundamentally. I think this is a contribution which business is going to make to the world, and not only to the business world, but eventually to government and international relations. Men may be making useful products, but beyond this, by helping to solve the problems of human relations, they are perhaps destined to lead the world in the solution of those great problems of coordination and control upon which our future progress must depend.”

Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933) American academic

Source: Dynamic administration, 1942, p. xxviii

“Learning to cherish others is the best solution to our daily problems, and it is the source of all our future happiness and good fortune.”

Kelsang Gyatso (1931) Tibetan writer and lama

Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom (2011)

“Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the Principle of mathematics to work out the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution.”

Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) religious leader

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (1889), p. 491 https://archive.org/stream/healthwitscience00eddyrich#page/491/mode/1up

“Government is not a solution to our problem government is the problem.”

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)

Some sources indicate the phrase 'government is the problem' was not part of the speech. (E.g. yale.edu http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/reagan1.asp). Live recordings of the address demonstrate that Reagan did indeed use the phrase in question. See Ronald Reagan: First Inaugural Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IleiqUDYpFQ; start at 6:08 <br class="br">1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), First Inaugural address (1981) <br class="br">Variant: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem <br class="br">Context: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

“Sometimes destiny lies just outside of our reach.”

Alyson Nöel book Shadowland

Shadowland

“...when we have more minds concerned, any challenge shrinks proportionally. The solution to our greatest problems may simply be involvement.”

William Coperthwaite (1930–2013) American yurt builder

A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity

“The concern of OR with finding an optimum decision, policy, or design is one of its essential characteristics. It does not seek merely to define a better solution to a problem than the one in use; it seeks the best solution… [It] can be characterized as the application of scientific methods, techniques, and tools to problems involving the operations of systems so as to provide those in control of the operations with optimum solutions to the problems.”

C. West Churchman (1913–2004) American philosopher and systems scientist

Source: 1940s - 1950s, Introduction to Operations Research (1957), p. 8, cited in: R.L. McCown (2001) "Learning to bridge the gap between science-based decision support and the practice of farming". In: Aust. J. Agric. Res., Vol 52, p. 560-561

“I would be dishonest if I did not state quite clearly that the proposals which were put to us in Pretoria do not represent what in our view would be the best solution to Rhodesia's problems.”

Ian Smith (1919–2007) Prime Minister of Rhodesia

Michael Knipe, "Mr Smith agrees to majority rule coming within two years", The Times, September 25, 1976, p. 1.
Statement (September 24, 1976) on negotiations in South Africa which proposed a phased transition to majority rule.

“Liberalism is the philosophy for our time, because it does not try to conserve every tradition of the past, because it does not apply to new problems the old doctrinaire solutions, because it is prepared to experiment and innovate and because it knows that the past is less important than the future.”

Pierre Trudeau (1919–2000) 15th Prime Minister of Canada

Defining liberalism at the 1968 Liberal leadership convention, as quoted in "History of the Liberal Party of Canada" (PDF at the Liberal Party website) http://web.archive.org/web/20070418135603/http://www.liberal.ca/pdf/docs/070417_lpc_history_en.pdf

“I consider it an extremely dangerous doctrine, because the more likely we are to assume that the solution comes from the outside, the less likely we are to solve our problems ourselves.”

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Carl Friedrich Gauss50

Related quotes

Related topics