Peter

“The necessary incompleteness of even our formal systems of thought demonstrates that there is no non-shifting foundation on which any system rests. [...] Our knowing minds are not embedded in truth. Rather the entire notion of truth is embedded in our minds[.]”
― Rebecca Goldstein, Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel

“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”
― John Derbyshire, Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics

“I have given my love to what is worthy of love. Is that not the kingdom and the unperishing spring?”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, 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.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore