42 Quotes by Carl Friedrich Gauss
Carl Friedrich Gauss, often referred to as the "Prince of Mathematicians," was a German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist whose contributions laid the foundation for many areas of modern mathematics. From a young age, Gauss exhibited extraordinary mathematical talent, making significant discoveries that would change the course of mathematics forever. His work spanned a wide range of fields, from number theory and algebra to astronomy and geodesy.
Gauss's groundbreaking contributions to number theory, particularly in prime numbers and modular arithmetic, earned him lasting acclaim. His work also extended to physics and astronomy, where he made notable advancements in celestial mechanics and magnetic theory. Beyond his intellectual prowess, Gauss was known for his humility and dedication to education, inspiring future generations of mathematicians and scientists. His profound impact on mathematics and his broad spectrum of interests have solidified his place as one of history's greatest mathematical minds
Carl Friedrich Gauss Quotes
It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.
Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes.
Mathematics is the queen of sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics. She often condescends to render service to astronomy and other natural sciences, but in all relations she is entitled to the first rank.
Theory attracts practice as the magnet attracts iron.
You have no idea, how much poetry there is in the calculation of a table of logarithms!
There have been only three epoch-making mathematicians, Archimedes, Newton, and Eisenstein.
Mathematicians stand on each other's shoulders.
If others would but reflect on mathematical truths as deeply and as continuously as I have, they would make my discoveries.
We must admit with humility that, while number is purely a product of our minds, space has a reality outside our minds, so that we cannot completely prescribe its properties a priori.
Does the pursuit of truth give you as much pleasure as before? Surely it is not the knowing but the learning, not the possessing but the acquiring, not the being-there but the getting there that afford the greatest satisfaction. If I have exhausted something, I leave it in order to go again into the dark. Thus is that insatiable man so strange: when he has completed a structure it is not in order to dwell in it comfortably, but to start another.
The enchanting charms of this sublime science reveal only to those who have the courage to go deeply into it.
The problem of distinguishing prime numbers from composite numbers and of resolving the latter into their prime factors is known to be one of the most important and useful in arithmetic.
It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. When I have clarified and exhausted a subject, then I turn away from it, in order to go into darkness again; the never-satisfied man is so strange if he has completed a structure, then it is not in order to dwell in it peacefully,but in order to begin another. I imagine the world conqueror must feel thus, who, after one kingdom is scarcely conquered, stretches out his arms for others.
That this subject [of imaginary magnitudes] has hitherto been considered from the wrong point of view and surrounded by a mysterious obscurity, is to be attributed largely to an ill-adapted notation. If, for example, +1, -1, and the square root of -1 had been called direct, inverse and lateral units, instead of positive, negative and imaginary (or even impossible), such an obscurity would have been out of the question.
Mathematics is the queen of science, and arithmetic the queen of mathematics.
It may be true that people who are merely mathematicians have certain specific shortcomings; however that is not the fault of mathematics, but is true of every exclusive occupation. Likewise a mere linguist, a mere jurist, a mere soldier, a mere merchant, and so forth. One could add such idle chatter that when a certain exclusive occupation is often connected with certain specific shortcomings, it is on the other hand always free of certain other shortcomings.
Mathematical discoveries, like springtime violets in the woods, have their season which no human can hasten or retard.
Mathematics is the queen of the sciences.
Mathematics is concerned only with the enumeration and comparison of relations.
Finally, two days ago, I succeeded - not on account of my hard efforts, but by the grace of the Lord. Like a sudden flash of lightning, the riddle was solved. I am unable to say what was the conducting thread that connected what I previously knew with what made my success possible.
When a philosopher says something that is true then it is trivial. When he says something that is not trivial then it is false.
I believe you are more believing in the Bible than I. I am not, and, you are much happier than I.
No contradictions will arise as long as Finite Man does not mistake the infinite for something fixed, as long as he is not led by an acquired habit of mind to regard the infinite as something bounded.
The higher arithmetic presents us with an inexhaustible store of interesting truths - of truths, too, which are not isolated, but stand in a close internal connection, and between which, as our knowledge increases, we are continually discovering new and sometimes wholly unexpected ties.
Further, the dignity of the science itself seems to require that every possible means be explored for the solution of a problem so elegant and so celebrated.
It may be true, that men, who are mere mathematicians, have certain specific shortcomings, but that is not the fault of mathematics, for it is equally true of every other exclusive occupation.
The Infinite is only a manner of speaking.
To praise it would amount to praising myself. For the entire content of the work... coincides almost exactly with my own meditations which have occupied my mind for the past thirty or thirty-five years.
The total number of Dirichlet's publications is not large: jewels are not weighed on a grocery scale.
Arc, amplitude, and curvature sustain a similar relation to each other as time, motion, and velocity, or as volume, mass, and density.
Less depends upon the choice of words than upon this, that their introduction shall be justified by pregnant theorems.
Sophie Germain proved to the world that even a woman can accomplish something in the most rigorous and abstract of sciences and for that reason would well have deserved an honorary degree.
By explanation the scientist understands nothing except the reduction to the least and simplest basic laws possible, beyond which he cannot go, but must plainly demand them; from them however he deduces the phenomena absolutely completely as necessary.
A great part of its theories derives an additional charm from the peculiarity that important propositions, with the impress of simplicity on them, are often easily discovered by induction, and yet are of so profound a character that we cannot find the demonstrations till after many vain attempts; and even then, when we do succeed, it is often by some tedious and artificial process, while the simple methods may long remain concealed.
In mathematics there are no true controversies.
As is well known the principle of virtual velocities transforms all statics into a mathematical assignment, and by D'Alembert's principle for dynamics, the latter is again reduced to statics. Although it is is very much in order that in gradual training of science and in the instruction of the individual the easier precedes the more difficult, the simple precedes the more complicated, the special precedes the general, yet the min, once it has arrived at the higher standpoint, demands the reverse process whereby all statics appears only as a very special case of mechanics.
There are problems to whose solution I would attach an infinitely greater importance than to those of mathematics, for example touching ethics, or our relation to God, or concerning our destiny and our future; but their solution lies wholly beyond us and completely outside the province of science.
It is always noteworthy that all those who seriously study this science [the theory of numbers] conceive a sort of passion for it.
His second motto: Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy laws my services are bound.
The problem of distinguishing prime numbers from composite numbers and of resolving the latter into their prime factors is known to be one of the most important and useful in arithmetic. It has engaged the industry and wisdom of ancient and modern geometers to such an extent that it would be superfluous to discuss the problem at length. ... Further, the dignity of the science itself seems to require that every possible means be explored for the solution of a problem so elegant and so celebrated.
To such idle talk it might further be added: that whenever a certain exclusive occupation is coupled with specific shortcomings, it is likewise almost certainly divorced from certain other shortcomings.
For three days now this angel, almost too heavenly for earth has been my fiancée ... Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant colours. Upon his engagement to Johanne Osthof of Brunswick; they married 9 Oct 1805.
― Carl Friedrich Gauss Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
