I still remember the realization in college at Flinders University in Australia that mathematics was not just an abstract game of symbols but could be used as a tool to analyze and understand the modern world.
Terence TaoRead
Talent is important, but how one develops and nurtures it is even more so.
Interpretation
Talent alone is not enough; developing it is crucial.
This quote highlights the idea that while having talent is significant, the dedication to honing and nurturing that talent is what truly leads to success. It underscores the importance of hard work, practice, and continuous growth in any field.
In practice
In a motivational speech to students aspiring to be artists or musicians.
I still remember the realization in college at Flinders University in Australia that mathematics was not just an abstract game of symbols but could be used as a tool to analyze and understand the modern world.
Most students who take math classes aren't going to be mathematicians. They're going to be engineers, statisticians - in many ways, that's the more important mission of math education.
For me, I guess the main motivation is the satisfaction of finally understanding some tricky mathematical concept or phenomenon and then explaining it to others.
One can think of any given axiom system as being like a computer with a certain limited amount of memory or processing power. One could switch to a computer with even more storage, but no matter how large an amount of storage space the computer has, there will still exist some tasks that are beyond its ability.
I recall being fascinated by numbers even at age three and viewed their manipulation as a kind of game.
When I was growing up, I knew I wanted to be a mathematician, but I had no idea what that entailed.
If you want to create abundance for yourself, create it for someone else.
There's no shame in losing money on a stock. Everybody does it. What is shameful is to hold on to a stock, or worse, to buy more of it when the fundamentals are deteriorating.
The best part of being an angel investor is seeing these kids coming up with companies that get way more traffic than Reddit had when we sold it. I think, 'Are you kidding me? They're just kids, and they've done so much.
In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
They don't give you gold medals for beating somebody. They give you gold medals for beating everybody.
I want to leave something behind. A blueprint. A work ethic. Something that my great-grandkids and their kids and their kids can see: This is where it started. Lineage. Intergenerational wealth. Things that are here forever. All that.
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