Jeff Edison

“My melancholy is the most faithful mistress I have known; what wonder, then, that I love her in return.”
― Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or: A Fragment of Life

“Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it; marry or don’t marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the world’s foolishness, you will regret it; weep over it, you will regret that too; laugh at the world’s foolishness or weep over it, you will regret both. Believe a woman, you will regret it; believe her not, you will also regret it… Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. This, gentlemen, is the essence of all philosophy.”
― Søren Kierkegaard

“1.° Dios no existe.
2.° Dios existe y es un canalla.
3.° Dios existe, pero a veces duerme: sus pesadillas son nuestra existencia.
4.° Dios existe, pero tiene accesos de locura: esos accesos son nuestra existencia.
5.° Dios no es omnipresente, no puede estar en todas partes. A veces está ausente ¿en otros mundos? ¿En otras cosas?
6.° Dios es un pobre diablo, con un problema demasiado complicado para sus fuerzas. Lucha con la materia como un artista con su obra. Algunas veces, en algún momento logra ser Goya, pero generalmente es un desastre.

7.° Dios fue derrotado antes de la Historia por el Príncipe de las Tinieblas. Y derrotado, convertido en presunto diablo, es doblemente desprestigiado, puesto que se le atribuye este universo calamitoso.”
― Ernesto Sabato, Sobre héroes y tumbas

“One of the most painful parts of teaching mathematics is seeing students damaged by the cult of the genius. The genius cult tells students it’s not worth doing mathematics unless you’re the best at mathematics, because those special few are the only ones whose contributions matter. We don’t treat any other subject that way! I’ve never heard a student say, “I like Hamlet, but I don’t really belong in AP English—that kid who sits in the front row knows all the plays, and he started reading Shakespeare when he was nine!” Athletes don’t quit their sport just because one of their teammates outshines them. And yet I see promising young mathematicians quit every year, even though they love mathematics, because someone in their range of vision was “ahead” of them.”
― Jordan Ellenberg, How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking