“Your first question must always be: what is the most difficult part of this problem that I am trying to solve and then try and solve that. If you can't solve the most difficult bit, give up! Seek advice, find somebody who can solve it!”

— Joe Armstrong

The Forgotten Ideas in Computer Science

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Joe Armstrong 36

British computer scientist 1950–2019

Keigo Higashino The Devotion of Suspect X

Source: The Devotion of Suspect X

“The secret to solving a problem always lies in finding the most suitable path: reflect, try, don't give up, be constant and you will get it.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Il segreto per risolvere un problema sta sempre nel trovare la strada più adatta: rifletti, prova, non arrenderti, sii costante ed otterrai.
Source: prevale.net

“This problem is the most difficult and the last to be solved by mankind.”

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) German philosopher

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

“If you cannot solve the proposed problem, try to solve first a simpler related problem.”

George Pólya (1887–1985) Hungarian mathematician

Mathematical Methods in Science (1977), p.164

“The foolish thing was trying to solve the problem all by myself. But the deeper I get tangled up in this mass of dreams and memories the more I realize that emotional problems can't be solved as intellectual problems are.”

Daniel Keyes book Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon (1966)

“Whenever you work on something and try to solve one problem, and you end up helping or solving many other problems, it is a sign that what you are doing is good.”

Nathan Seiberg (1956) American physicist

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]