“Less depends upon the choice of words than upon this, that their introduction shall be justified by pregnant theorems.”

"Gauss's Abstract of the Disquisitiones Generales circa Superficies Curvas presented to the Royal Society of Gottingen" (1827) Tr. James Caddall Morehead & Adam Miller Hiltebeitel in General Investigations of Curved Surfaces of 1827 and 1825 (1902)

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 "Less depends upon the choice of words than upon this, that their introduction shall be justified by pregnant theorems." by Carl Friedrich Gauss?
Carl Friedrich Gauss photo
Carl Friedrich Gauss 50
German mathematician and physical scientist 1777–1855

Related quotes

Herbert Spencer photo

“There can be little question that good composition is far less dependent upon acquaintance with its laws, than upon practice and natural aptitude.”

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist

Pt. I, sec. 1, "The Principle of Economy"
The Philosophy of Style (1852)
Context: There can be little question that good composition is far less dependent upon acquaintance with its laws, than upon practice and natural aptitude. A clear head, a quick imagination, and a sensitive ear, will go far towards making all rhetorical precepts needless.

Alfred Stillé photo
Horace Mann photo

“Whether a young man shall reap pleasure or pain from winning the objects of his choice, depends, not only upon his wisdom or folly in selecting those objects, but upon the right or wrong methods by which he pursues them.”

Horace Mann (1796–1859) American politician

A Few Thoughts for a Young Man (1850)
Context: Whether a young man shall reap pleasure or pain from winning the objects of his choice, depends, not only upon his wisdom or folly in selecting those objects, but upon the right or wrong methods by which he pursues them. Hence, a knowledge what to select and how to pursue, is as necessary to the highest happiness as virtue herself. Virtue is an angel, but she is a blind one, and must ask of Knowledge to show her the pathway that leads to her goal. <!-- p. 9

William Adams photo

“Eternal life does not depend upon our perfection; but because it does depend upon the grace of Christ and the love of the Spirit, that love shall prompt us to emulate perfection.”

William Adams (1706–1789) Fellow and Master of Pembroke College, Oxford

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 210.

Napoleon I of France photo

“The greater the man, the less is he opinionative, he depends upon events and circumstances.”

Napoleon I of France (1769–1821) French general, First Consul and later Emperor of the French

Source: Political Aphorisms, Moral and Philosophical Thoughts (1848), p. 146

Cassandra Clare photo
George Ballard Mathews photo
Helen Keller photo
Atul Gawande photo

Related topics