Funny Math Quotes

A collection of favorite funny math quotes from all over. We will start with funny math quotes that defines what mathematics is. More funny math quotes can be found from our Math Trivia pages.

Mathematics is ...

“Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.” -- Bertrand Russell

“Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.”

“Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.” -- J. H. Poincare

“Philosophy is a game with objectives and no rules. Mathematics is a game with rules and no objectives.”

"Mathematics is a game played according to certain simple rules with meaningless marks on paper." -- David Hilbert

"Mathematics consists in proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way." -- George Polya

"In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them." -- Johann von Neumann

"A tragedy of mathematics is a beautiful conjecture ruined by an ugly fact.”

“Mathematics is like love; a simple idea, but it can get complicated.”

"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is."

“Mathematics is like checkers in being suitable for the young, not too difficult, amusing, and without peril to the state.” -- Plato

"The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple." -- S. Gudder

"There are two ways to do great mathematics. The first is to be smarter than everybody else. The second way is to be stupider than everybody else -- but persistent." -- Raoul Bott

"Obvious is the most dangerous word in mathematics." -- E.T. Bell

"Arithmetic is being able to count up to twenty without taking off your shoes." -- Mickey Mouse

"The greatest unsolved theorem in mathematics is why some people are better at it than others." -- Adrian Mathesis

"Mathematics is not a deductive science – that's a cliché. When you try to prove a theorem, you don't just list the hypotheses, and then start to reason. What you do is trial and error, experimentation, guesswork." -- Paul Halmos

“The different branches of Arithmetic are Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.” – Lewis Caroll

"Mathematics is written for mathematicians." – Copernicus

"Mathematics should be fun." -- Peter J. Hilton

"Small minds discuss persons. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas. Really great minds discuss mathematics."

"But in the new (math) approach, the important thing is to understand what you're doing, rather than to get the right answer." -- Tom Lehrer

"Most likely, logic is capable of justifying mathematics to no greater extent than biology is capable of justifying life." -- Y. Manin

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