Joseph-Louis Lagrange

It is not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious.

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.

As long as algebra and geometry have been separated, their progress have been slow and their uses limited; but when these two sciences have been united, they have lent each other mutual forces, and have marched together towards perfection.

It is a great misfortune for a mathematician to have no opportunities to apply his knowledge.

The methods which I have presented require no constructions or geometrical or mechanical considerations, but only algebraic operations, subject to a regular and uniform procedure.

When we consider the immense number of combinations that can be formed from a small number of elements, we are astonished at the fruitfulness of mathematics.

The solution of the problem of the three bodies is, by its nature, beyond the reach of human intelligence.

It seems that nature has placed an insuperable barrier to our knowledge of the causes of things.

The advantage of the analytical method is that it is always uniform and always leads to the same results.

Mathematics is the science of the eternal and immutable.

The human mind is not capable of grasping the universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. He does not know who or how. He does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which he dimly suspects but does not understand.

The universe is a grand book which cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it; without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth.

It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.

The progress of mathematics is based on the constant striving for greater generality and simplicity.

The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.

The human mind has always been fascinated by the infinite.

The greatest discoveries are often made by accident, but only to those who are prepared.

The pursuit of truth is more precious than its possession.