"The value of a problem is not so much coming up with the answer as in the ideas and attempted ideas it forces on the would be solver."
-- I.N. Herstein
"It has been just so in all of my inventions. The first step is an intuition, and comes with a burst, then difficulties arise—this thing gives out and [it is] then that "Bugs"—as such little faults and difficulties are called—show themselves and months of intense watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success or failure is certainly reached."
-- Thomas Edison i et brev til Puskas.
"a mathematician's work is mostly a tangle of guesswork, analogy, wishful thinking and frustration, and proof ... is more often than not a way of making sure that our minds are not playing tricks."
-- Gian-Carlo Rota, i introduktionen til The Mathematical Experience
"He who can properly define and divide is to be considered a god."
-- Plato
"Whenever you can, count."
-- Sir Francis Galton