If one were to bring ten of the wisest men in the world together and ask them what was the most stupid thing in existence, they would not be able to discover anything so stupid as astrology.
David HilbertRead
No one shall expel us from the paradise that Cantor has created for us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the enduring nature of self-created knowledge and ideas, which cannot be taken away by external forces.
David Hilbert's quote reflects the idea that the intellectual and mathematical realms we construct, represented metaphorically as a 'paradise', are sacred and inviolable spaces. No external force can diminish the power and creativity that arise from our thoughts and discoveries, particularly those inspired by Cantor’s groundbreaking work in set theory, which redefined our understanding of infinity and mathematics.
Themes
KnowledgeInfinityMathematicsCreativityIdeas
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of knowledge and creation.
More from David Hilbert
All quotes →The art of doing mathematics consists in finding that special case which contains all the germs of generality.
David HilbertRead
The further a mathematical theory is developed, the more harmoniously and uniformly does its construction proceed, and unsuspected relations are disclosed between hitherto separated branches of the science.
David HilbertRead
Wir mussen wissen. Wir werden wissen. We must know. We will know. Inscribed on his tomb in Gilttingen.
David HilbertRead
Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper.
David HilbertRead
Mathematical science is in my opinion an indivisible whole, an organism whose vitality is conditioned upon the connection of its parts.
David HilbertRead
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