If you attack a mathematical problem directly, very often you come to a dead end, nothing you do seems to work and you feel that if only you could peer round the corner there might be an easy solution. There is nothing like having somebody else beside you, because he can usually peer round the corner.
Interpretation
Collaboration can lead to new perspectives and solutions to difficult problems.
This quote by Michael Atiyah emphasizes the value of collaboration and seeking support when faced with challenging problems, especially in mathematics. It suggests that while direct attacks on complex issues can lead to frustration and dead ends, having someone else involved in the process can provide new insights and alternative approaches, highlighting the importance of shared perspectives in problem-solving.
In practice
In a team meeting discussing project challenges, this quote could inspire collaboration among team members.
In the broad light of day mathematicians check their equations and their proofs, leaving no stone unturned in their search for rigour. But, at night, under the full moon, they dream, they float among the stars and wonder at the miracle of the heavens. They are inspired. Without dreams there is no art, no mathematics, no life.
Dogs are wise. They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole once more.
Do not try to make circumstances fit your plans. Make plans that fit the circumstances.
Of all wild beasts preserve me from a tyrant; and of all tame a flatterer.
No man was ever so completely skilled in the conduct of life, as not to receive new information from age and experience.
We learn best to listen to our own voices if we are listening at the same time to other women-whose stories, for all our differences, turn out, if we listen well, to be our stories also.
Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
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