Joseph-Louis Lagrange

The methods which I have developed are so general that they can be applied to all branches of mechanics.

I have tried to make my work as clear and simple as possible, so that it may be understood by all.

The true value of a discovery is not in its immediate application, but in the new ideas it generates.

The most beautiful theories are those which are the most simple and the most general.

I have always been more interested in the methods than in the results.

The true object of mathematics is to discover the laws of nature.

If one could only be sure of being right, it would be a pleasure to be wrong sometimes.

Newton was the greatest genius that ever lived, and the most fortunate, for there is but one system of the world which could be discovered.

When I have been a long time without writing, I find it difficult to begin again. It is like a man who has been long without eating, and who finds it difficult to begin again.

The solutions of the problems of life are not to be found in the equations of mathematics.

Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and arithmetic the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations, she is entitled to the first rank.

It seems that nature has a particular fondness for the imaginary numbers.

One can always find a reason for not doing something.

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.

I have tried to make my work as clear as possible, but I have not sacrificed accuracy for clarity.

The greatest advantage of mathematics is that it allows us to reason about things that we cannot see or touch.

It is a singular fact that the most abstract of all sciences, mathematics, is the most useful.

I have often regretted that I did not devote more time to the study of languages.

It is not enough to know; we must also apply. It is not enough to will; we must also do.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.