It saddens me that educated people don't even know that my subject exists.

If the NSF had never existed, if the government had never funded American mathematics, we would have half as many mathematicians as we now have, and I don't see anything wrong with that.

The mathematical fraternity is a little like a self-perpetuating priesthood. The mathematicians of today teach the mathematicians of tomorrow and, in effect, decide whom to admit to the priesthood.

The author discusses valueless measures in pointless spaces.

Mathematics is not a deductive science - that's a cliché... What you do is trial and error, experimentation, guesswork.

What's the best part of being a mathematician? I'm not a religious man, but it's almost like being in touch with God when you're thinking about mathematics. God is keeping secrets from us, and it's fun to try to learn some of the secrets.

The heart of mathematics is its problems.