41 Quotes by Terence Tao

Mathematical problems, or puzzles, are important to real mathematics (like solving real-life problems), just as fables, stories and anecdotes are important to the young in understanding real life

I was never very good at school with... humanities... anything which was more a matter of opinion.

I don't have any magical ability. I look at a problem, play with it, work out a strategy.

I enjoy a good meal, a good vacation, or a good movie, much as anyone else would.

You want to get to the top of the cliff. But that's not what you focus on immediately. You focus on the next ledge just beyond your reach, because you need to do one clever thing to get up there. And then, once you get there, you do it again. A lot of this is rather boring and not very glamorous. But you can't jump cliffs in a single bound.

For me, I guess the main motivation is the satisfaction of finally understanding some tricky mathematical concept or phenomenon and then explaining it to others.

Mathematicians are fairly cheap.

Talent is important, but how one develops and nurtures it is even more so.

If I don't understand something properly, every single component, it really bugs me.