A Mathematician's Apology (Canto Classics)

His life remained the life of a brilliant young man until he was old: so did his spirit: his games, his interests, kept the lightness of a young don’s. And, like many men who keep a young man’s interests into their sixties, his last years were the darker for it.

A ‘SERIOUS’ theorem is a theorem which contains ‘significant’ ideas,

high thinking of one kind is always likely to affect high thinking of another

His inner life was his own, and very rich. The sadness came at the end. Apart from his devoted sister, he was left with no one close to him.

‘it is the large generalization, limited by a happy particularity, which is the fruitful conception3.’

He was the classical anti-narcissist. He could not endure having his photograph taken: so far as I know, there are only five snapshots in existence.

Their answers, if they are honest, will usually take one or other of two forms; and the second form is merely a humbler variation of the first, which is the only answer which we need consider seriously. (I) ‘I do what I do because it is the one and only thing that I can do at all well.

‘It is never worth a first class man’s time to express a majority opinion. By definition, there are plenty of others to do that.’

Now Flowers was a decent enough fellow (so far as ‘Alan St Aubyn’ could draw one), but even my unsophisticated mind refused to accept him as clever. If he could do these things, why not I?