Paul Erdos Quotations

A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.

God may not play dice with the universe, but something strange is going on with the prime numbers.

There are three signs of senility. The first sign is that a man forgets his theorems. The second sign is that he forgets to zip up. The third sign is that he forgets to zip down.

I hope we'll be able to solve these problems before we leave.

Television is something the Russians invented to destroy American education.

A Mathematician is someone who can take a cup of coffee and turn it into a theory.

When I was a child, the Earth was said to be two billion years old. Now scientists say it's four and a half billion. So that makes me two and a half billion.

If numbers aren't beautiful, I don't know what is.

God has the Big Book, the beautiful proofs of mathematical theorems are listed here.

The SF [Supreme Fascist, i.e. God] created us to enjoy our suffering. The sooner we die, the sooner we defy His plans.

Some French socialist said that private property was theft ... I say that private property is a nuisance.

Another roof, another proof.

Here I am: My brain is open.

Mathematics is the surest way to immortality. If you make a big discovery in mathematics, you will be remembered after everyone else will be forgotten

Végre nem butulok tovább (I've finally stopped getting dumber).

Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems.

Every human activity, good or bad, except mathematics, must come to an end.

There'll be plenty of time to rest in the grave.

I'll tell you once, and I'll tell you again. There's always a prime between n and 2n.

Finally I am becoming stupider no more.

You don't have to believe in God, but you should believe in The Book.

I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is.

Property is a nuisance.

It is not enough to be in the right place at the right time. You should also have an open mind at the right time.

Suppose aliens invade the earth and threaten to obliterate it in a year's time unless human beings can find the Ramsey number for red five and blue five. We could marshal the world's best minds and fastest computers, and within a year we could probably calculate the value. If the aliens demanded the Ramsey number for red six and blue six, however, we would have no choice but to launch a preemptive attack.

The purpose of life is to conjecture and prove.

Why are numbers beautiful? It’s like asking why is Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don’t see why, someone can’t tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren’t beautiful, nothing is.

It will be another million years, at least, before we understand the primes.