Moosetros of Math

"Is this such an extraordinarily difficult thing to do? Yes, it is. Is there some recipe or method to follow? No, there isn’t. This is abstract art, pure and simple. And art is always a struggle. There is no systematic way to create beautiful and meaningful paintings or sculptures, and there is also no method for producing beautiful and meaningful mathematical arguments. Sorry. Math is the hardest thing there is, and that’s one of the reasons I love it.

"So no, I can’t tell you how to do it, and I’m not going to hold your hand or give you a bunch of hints or solutions in the back of the book. If you want to paint a picture from your heart, there is no “answer painting” on the back of the canvas. If you are working on a problem and you are stuck and in pain, then welcome to the club. We mathematicians don’t know how to solve our problems either. If we did, they would no longer be problems! We’re always working at the edge of the unknown, and we’re always stuck. Until we have a breakthrough. And I hope you have many—it’s an incredible feeling."

-Paul Lockhart, Measurement

“Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” - Albus Dumbledore