A Termination Of One's Life Is Necessary

A Termination Of One's Life Is Necessary In The Scheme Of Things To Provide A Logical Reason For Unselfishness. . . . The Fact That There Is An End To One's Life Compels One To Take An Interest In Things That Will Continue To Live After One Is Dead.

It Seems That If One Is Working From The Point Of View Of Getting Beauty In One's Equations, And If One Has Really A Sound Insight, One Is On A Sure Line Of Progress.

It Is Quite Clear That Beauty Does Depend On One's Culture And Upbringing For Certain Kinds Of Beauty, Pictures, Literature, Poetry And So On...but Mathematical Beauty Is Of A Rather Different Kind. I Should Say Perhaps It Is Of A Completely Different Kind And Transcends These Personal Factors. It Is The Same In All Countries And At All Periods Of Time.

If You Are Receptive And Humble, Mathematics Will Lead You By The Hand. Again And Again, When I Have Been At A Loss How To Proceed, I Have Just Had To Wait Until I Have Felt The Mathematics Led Me By The Hand. It Has Led Me Along An Unexpected Path, A Path Where New Vistas Open Up, A Path Leading To New Territory, Where One Can Set Up A Base Of Operations, From Which One Can Survey The Surroundings And Plan Future Progress.

As Time Goes On, It Becomes Increasingly Evident That The Rules Which The Mathematician Finds Interesting Are The Same As Those Which Nature Has Chosen.