[I]t would be better for the true physics if there were no mathematicians on earth.
In The Mathematical Intelligencer, v. 13, no. 1, Winter 1991.
Loci: Convergence
Mathematical Quotations
Our library of quotations is organized alphabetically by surname of the author.
Kasner and Newman
[W]e have overcome the notion that mathematical truths have an existence independent and apart from our own minds. It is even strange to us that such a notion could ever have existed.
Kasner and Newman
Mathematics is man's own handiwork, subject only to the limitations imposed by the laws of thought.
Helen Keller (1880-1968)
Now I feel as if I should succeed in doing something in mathematics, although I cannot see why it is so very important... The knowledge doesn't make life any sweeter or happier, does it?
Kelley, John
A topologist is one who doesn't know the difference between a doughnut and a coffee cup.
Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630)
Nature uses as little as possible of anything.
Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630)
The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics.
Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630)
Where there is
matter, there is
geometry.
(Ubi materia,
ibi geometria.)
Keynes, John Maynard
It has been pointed out already that no knowledge of probabilities, less in degree than certainty, helps us to know what conclusions are true, and that there is no direct relation between the truth of a proposition and its probability. Probability begins and ends with probability.
Kleinhenz, Robert J.
When asked what it was like to set about proving something, the mathematician likened proving a theorem to seeing the peak of a mountain and trying to climb to the top. One establishes a base camp and begins scaling the mountain's sheer face, encountering obstacles at every turn, often retracing one's steps and struggling every foot of the journey. Finally when the top is reached, one stands examining the peak, taking in the view of the surrounding countryside and then noting the automobile road up the other side!
Kline, Morris
Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence.