David Hilbert

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

Mathematics is the music of reason.

The true spirit of mathematics is to be found in its problems.

The most important tool of the mathematician is his imagination.

The greatest discoveries in mathematics are often the simplest.

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

The most important thing in mathematics is not to get the right answer, but to understand the problem.

The mathematician's work is a kind of play, a game of chess with the universe.

The infinite is not a concept, but a method.

The true mathematician is a discoverer, not an inventor.

The most important thing in mathematics is to be able to see the forest for the trees.

The problems of mathematics are not solved by magic, but by hard work.

Mathematics is an exact science, and its exactness is its beauty.

The infinite is nowhere to be found in reality. It neither exists in nature nor provides a legitimate basis for rational thought. The role that remains for the infinite to play is solely that of an idea, an idea which is a useful tool in the human mind for the development of mathematics.

The object of mathematics is the discovery of the laws of nature.

The problems of mathematics are not problems in a vacuum. They are problems that arise from the world around us.

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.

The art of doing mathematics is to find the right question.

We are not speaking here of arbitrary rules, but of those which are necessary for the very existence of mathematics.

Mathematics is a creative art.