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“When I was young, I had to choose between the life of being and the life of doing. And I leapt at the latter like a trout to a fly. But each deed you do, each act, binds you to itself and to its consequences, and makes you act again and yet again. Then very seldom do you come upon a space, a time like this, between act and act, when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are.”
― The Farthest Shore
― The Farthest Shore
“So Arren spoke, fiercely and with command. He had been overawed and frightened too much, he had been filled up with fear, and he had got sick of it and would not have it anymore. He was angry with the dragon for its brute strength and size, its unjust advantage. He had seen death, he had tasted death, and no threat had power over him.”
― The Farthest Shore
― The Farthest Shore
“Published mathematical papers often have irritating assertions of the type: “It now follows that…,” or: “It is now obvious that…,” when it doesn't follow, and isn't obvious at all, unless you put in the six hours the author did to supply the missing steps and checking them. There is a story about the English mathematician G.H. Hardy, whom we shall meet later. In the middle of delivering a lecture, Hardy arrived at a point in his argument where he said, “It is now obvious that….” Here he stopped, fell silent, and stood motionless with furrowed brow for a few seconds. Then he walked out of the lecture hall. Twenty minutes later he returned, smiling, and began, “Yes, it is obvious that….” If he”
― Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
― Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
“The rules of evidence can deliver very persuasive results, sometimes contrary to the strictly argued certainties of mathematics. […] Hypothesis: No human can possibly be more than nine feet tall. Confirming instance: A human being who is 8'11¾" tall. The discovery of that person confirms the hypothesis … but at the same time casts a long shadow of doubt across it!”
― Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
― Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics
“How does one hate a country, or love one? Tibe talks about it; I lack the trick of it. I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession... Insofar as I love life, I love the hills of the Domain of Estre, but that sort of love does not have a boundary-line of hate. And beyond that, I am ignorant, I hope.”
― The Left Hand of Darkness
― The Left Hand of Darkness
Peter’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Peter’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
56 books
|
3 friends
573 books
|
25 friends
89 books
|
5 friends
564 books
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7 friends
45 books
|
1 friend
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