27 Quotes by Gian-Carlo Rota

The advice we give others is the advice that we ourselves need.

How did he do it? He must be a genius!

Mathematics is the study of analogies between analogies. All science is. Scientists want to show that things that don’t look alike are really the same. That is one of their innermost Freudian motivations. In fact, that is what we mean by understanding.

If we have no idea why a statement is true, we can still prove it by induction.

Nature imitates mathematics.

Mathematicians – for what they do – are really poorly rewarded. And it’s a very competitive field, almost as bad as being a concert pianist.

God created infinity, and man, unable to understand infinity, had to invent finite sets.

The lack of real contact between mathematics and biology is either a tragedy, a scandal or a challenge, it is hard to decide which.

A technique is a trick that works.