“On the whole, I do not like the French as well as the Germans; the French are extremely reserved toward strangers… Everybody works for himself without concern for others. All want to instruct, and nobody wants to learn. The most absolute egotism reigns everywhere. The only thing the French look for in strangers is the practical; no one can think except himself, he is the only one who can produce anything theoretical. This is the way he thinks and so you can understand it is really difficult to be noticed, particularly for a beginner.”

—  Niels Henrik Abel

Letter to Bernt Michael Holmboe (ca. 1826) as quoted by Øystein Ore, Niels Henrik Abel: Mathematician Extraordinary (1957)

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

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Niels Henrik Abel6
Norwegian mathematician 1802–1829

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