"Combinatorics is an honest subject. No adÃ¨les, no sigma-algebras. You count balls in a box, and you either have the right number or you haven't. You get the feeling that the result you have discovered is forever, because it's concrete. Other branches of mathematics are not so clear-cut. Functional analysis of infinite-dimensional spaces is never fully convincing; you don't get a feeling of having done an honest day's work. Don't get the wrong idea - combinatorics is not just putting balls into boxes. Counting finite sets can be a highbrow undertaking, with sophisticated techniques."

-- Gian-Carlo Rota

#Math Quotes #Cutting Quotes #Ideas Quotes

“Is there any stab as deep as wondering where and how much you failed those you loved.”
“YOU have no room to laugh, that's all. I'm not doing any worse with Boovish than you did with English.' Get off of the car,' J.Lo huffed. 'I am an English superstar.' Uh-uh. There's no comparison. 'Gratuity' in written Boovish has seventeen different bubbles that all have to be the right size and in the right place. 'J.Lo' in written English only has three letters, and you still spelled it 'M-smiley face-pound sign.”

Source : Adam Rex (2013). “The True Meaning of Smekday”, p.178, A&C Black
“The road to the Super Bowl runs through Pittsburgh, sooner or later you've got to go to Pittsburgh.”
“Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon Hunger in the banquet, hunger in the bride and groom Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page And there's a God-sized hunger underneath the questions of the age”
“I'm disturbed because the doctors tell me I'm as sound as a dollar.”

Source : John George Diefenbaker (1982). “The Wit & Wisdom of John Diefenbaker”, Hurtig Trade
“I think [audiences are] more aware now of the contradictions in mainstream culture, the phony piety that permeates society, the inhumane hypocrisy.”
“I just don't like showing everything I've got. I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard to be sexy.”
“Ignoring a baby's cry is like using earplugs to stop the distressing noise of a smoke detector. The sound of a smoke detector is meant to alert us to a serious matter that requires a response - and so is the cry of a baby.”

Source : Jan Hunt (2013). “The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart”, p.34, New Society Publishers

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