“Begin with the simplest examples.”

— David Hilbert

Immer mit den einfachsten Beispielen anfangen.
Hilbert-Courant (1984) by Constance Reid, p. 104; German version quoted in Algebra by Michael Artin

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David Hilbert30

German prominent mathematician 1862–1943

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Sometimes presented in paraphrased form, such as "Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing" https://books.google.com/books?id=5Za7o6teOHoC&pg=PR18&dq=%22example+is+not+the+main+thing%22+schweitzer&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFh4m9vqvMAhUG02MKHRqZDtsQ6AEIMzAE#v=onepage&q=%22example%20is%20not%20the%20main%20thing%22%20&f=false. <br class="br">God's Own Man (1952)

“I… present also examples of historic interest, examples of real mathematical beauty”

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Induction and Analogy in Mathematics (1954)
Context: I... present also examples of historic interest, examples of real mathematical beauty, and examples illustrating the parallelism of the procedures in other sciences, or in everyday life.

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“Begin with the simplest examples.”

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David Hilbert30

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