Pure Math:
Clearly: the author can show it in half a day
It is easily seen that: two Bell Lab scientists took 3.5 years to show it
Ingenious Proof: a proof that the author could understand
It can be observed that: the author hopes you haven�t noticed
Interesting: dull
Applied Math:
Of great theoretical importance: interesting to the author
Typical results are shown: the best results are shown
It is generally believed that: a couple other guys think so, too
Teaching:
Your test scores were fairly good: a few people managed a B
Some of you could have done better: everyone failed
The answer to your question is beyond the scope of this class: I don�t know
This is a very important topic: I understand it
(Michael Stueben, Twenty Years Before the Blackboard, 139-141)
Math Quotes
Philosophy is a game with objectives and no
rules.
Mathematics is a game with rules and no
objectives.
A mathematician, native Texan, once was asked in
his class: "What is mathematics good for?" He
replied: "This question makes me sick. Like when
you show somebody the Grand Canyon for the first
time, and he asks you `What's is good for?' What
would you do? Why, you would kick the guy off the
cliff."
There are two ways to do great mathematics. The first way is to be smarter than everybody else. The second way is to be stupider than everybody else -- but persistent. (Raul Bott)