One of the endlessly alluring aspects of mathematics is that its thorniest paradoxes have a way of blooming into beautiful theories.
Philip J. DavisMost writers on the subject seem to agree that the typical working mathematician is a Platonist on weekdays and a formalist on Sundays.
Philip J. DavisBlindness to the aesthetic element in mathematics is widespread and can account for a feeling that mathematics is dry as dust, as exciting as a telephone book... Contrariwise, appreciation of this element makes the subject live in a wonderful manner and burn as no other creation of the human mind seems to do.
Philip J. Davis