“It is not so much whether a theorem is useful that matters, but how elegant it is.”

— Stanislaw Ulam

Source: Adventures of a Mathematician - Third Edition (1991), Chapter 15, Random Reflections on Mathematics and Science, p. 274

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Stanislaw Ulam 33

Polish-American mathematician 1909–1984

John Tate

[Steve Nadis, A History in Sum, https://books.google.com/books?id=4e29AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA207, 1 November 2013, Harvard University Press, 978-0-674-72655-0, 207]

“Geometrical Speculations have just as much Elegancy as Simplicity, and deserve just so much praise as they can promise Use.”

Isaac Newton book Arithmetica Universalis

Arithmetica Universalis (1707), p.232

“It does not matter so much what you do. What matters is whether your soul is harmed by what you do.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

Reverence for Life (1969)
Context: I do not want to frighten you by telling you about the temptations life will bring. Anyone who is healthy in spirit will overcome them. But there is something I want you to realize. It does not matter so much what you do. What matters is whether your soul is harmed by what you do. If your soul is harmed, something irreparable happens, the extent of which you won't realize until it will be too late.

“The studios have their list of five actresses and whether they’re right or wrong for a role doesn’t matter. It’s how much money their last movie made.”

Sherilyn Fenn (1965) American actress

Sherilyn Fenn, quoted in "Crate Expectations", by Jim McClellan. The Face (UK). Issue 57. June 1993. p. 40-47.

“No matter how correct a mathematical theorem may appear to be, one ought never to be satisfied that there was not something imperfect about it until it gives the impression of also being beautiful.”

George Boole (1815–1864) English mathematician, philosopher and logician

Attributed to George Boole in: Des MacHale (1993) Comic sections: the book of mathematical jokes, humour, and wisdom. p, 107
Attributed from posthumous publications