It is not of the essence of mathematics to be conversant with the ideas of number and quantity.
Interpretation
Mathematics transcends mere numbers and quantities, embodying deeper concepts and ideas.
This quote by George Boole suggests that mathematics is not limited to the study of numbers and quantities, but instead encompasses a broader scope of ideas, principles, and relationships. It emphasizes that mathematics involves logical reasoning, structures, and abstract thought, which can be applied beyond the confines of numerical interpretation.
In practice
A teacher explaining the nature of mathematics in a seminar.
To unfold the secret laws and relations of those high faculties of thought by which all beyond the merely perceptive knowledge of the world and of ourselves is attained or matured, is a object which does not stand in need of commendation to a rational mind.
No matter how correct a mathematical theorem may appear to be, one ought never to be satisfied that there was not something imperfect about it until it also gives the impression of being beautiful.
Our physiological constitution is obviously a product of Darwinian processes, insofar as you buy the evolutional theory as a generative, as an account of the mechanism that generated us. Our physiology evolved, our behaviors evolved, and our accounts of those behaviors, both successful and unsuccessful, evolved.
Almost everybody accepts that some people can be killed. 'The concept of 'brain death' - the belief that people on respirators can legitimately be killed - shows that.
Thought can be so seductive and hypnotic that it absorbs your attention totally, so you become your thoughts.
The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.
The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.
But guilt is guilt. It doesn't go away. It can't be nullified. It can't even be fully understood, I'm certain - it's roots run too deep into private and long-standing karma. About the only thing that saves my neck when I get to feeling this way is that guilt is an imperfect form of knowledge. Just because it isn't perfect doesn't mean that it can't be used. The hard thing to do is to put it to practical use, before it gets around to paralyzing you.
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