Math quotes V: A man is like a fraction…
[Rescued from my old blog.]
The blackboard quotes for my math class have been a bit more philosophical the last few weeks:
A good problem should be more than a mere exercise; it should be challenging and not too easily solved by the student, and it should require some “dreaming” time.
—Howard Eves
An Introduction to the History of Mathematics
A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself. The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
—Leo Tolstoy
If you would make a man happy, do not add to his possessions but subtract from the sum of his desires.
—Seneca
But tomorrow’s quote on probability is just plain fun:
We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.
—Robert Silensky
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
Don’t miss anything! 
Subscribe in a feed reader, or get updates by Email.
Related posts:
Delightful is the word by R.Silensky.
I have one in french, can I?
“D’après Euclide, le carré est un quadrilatère dont les quatre angles sont droits et les quatre côtés égaux. D’après Sophicléïde, le carré est un triangle qui a réussi ou une circonférence qui a mal tourné.” —Pierre Dac
I like that!
Of course, I needed Babelfish to translate it, since I haven’t studied French since high school. I don’t even want to think about how long ago that was.