“If you cannot solve the proposed problem, try to solve first a simpler related problem.”
Mathematical Methods in Science (1977), p.164
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George Pólya 35
Hungarian mathematician 1887–1985Related quotes
“We cannot solve life's problems except by solving them.”
Source: The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth

Seventh Thesis
Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View (1784)

“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.”
As quoted in Baseball's Greatest Quotes (1992) by Paul Dickson; cited in "Game Day in the Majors" at the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/jrgmday.html

as quoted by Sandhya Ramesh in: [Interview: 'There's No Conflict Between Lack of Evidence of String Theory and Work Being Done on It', The Wire, Bengaluru, 7 January 2018, https://thewire.in/science/theres-no-conflict-lack-evidence-string-theory-work-done]

Stopped in Our Tracks, Book Two: Excerpts from U.G.'s Dialogues (2005) by K. Chandrasekhar

“BoP consumer problems cannot be solved with old technologies.”
Source: The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, 2009, p. 26