Quotes by Paul Lockhart

The thing I want you especially to understand is this feeling of divine revelation. I feel that this structure was out there all along I just couldnt see it. And now I can! This is really what keeps me in the math game-- the chance that I might glimpse some kind of secret underlying truth, some sort of message from the gods.

No mathematician in the world would bother making these senseless distinctions: 2 1/2 is a mixed number while 5/2 is an improper fraction. Theyre EQUAL for crying out loud. They are the exact same numbers and have the exact same properties. Who uses such words outside of fourth grade?

Mental acuity of any kind comes from solving problems yourself, not from being told how to solve them.

A good problem is something you dont know how to solve. Thats what makes it a good puzzle and a good opportunity.

Why dont we want our children to learn to do mathematics? Is it that we dont trust them, that we think its too hard? We seem to feel that they are capable of making arguments and coming to their own conclusions about Napoleon. Why not about triangles?

[Math] curriculum is obsessed with jargon and nomenclature seemingly for no other purpose than to provide teachers with something to test the students on.

SIMPLICIO: ... You have to [learn to] walk before you can run.SALVIATI: No, you have to have something you want to run toward.

Doing mathematics should always mean finding patterns and crafting beautiful and meaningful explanations.

If there is anything like a unifying aesthetic principle in mathematics, it is this: simple is beautiful. Mathematicians enjoy thinking about the simplest possible things, and the simplest possible things are imaginary.

... That little narrative is an example of the mathematician’s art: asking simple and elegant questions about our imaginary creations, and crafting satisfying and beautiful explanations. There is really nothing else quite like this realm of pure idea; it’s fascinating, it’s fun, and it’s free!

In any case, do you really think kids even want something that is relevant to their daily lives? You think something practical like compound interest is going to get them excited? People enjoy fantasy, and that is just what mathematics can provide -- a relief from daily life, an anodyne to the practical workaday world.

... This is a major theme in mathematics: things are what you want them to be. You have endless choices; there is no reality to get in your way.On the other hand, once you have made your choices then your new creations do what they do, whether you like it or not. This is the amazing thing about making imaginary patterns: they talk back!

So [in mathematics] we get to play and imagine whatever we want and make patterns and ask questions about them. But how do we answer these questions? It’s not at all like science. There’s no experiment I can do ... The only way to get at the truth about our imaginations is to use our imaginations, and that is hard work.

It is the story that matters not just the ending.

So how does one go about proving something like this? Its not like being a lawyer, where the goal is to persuade other people; nor is it like a scientist testing a theory. This is a unique art form within the world of rational science. We are trying to craft a poem of reason that explains fully and clearly and satisfies the pickiest demands of logic, while at the same time giving us goosebumps.

Be honest: did you actually read [the above geometric proof]? Of course not. Who would want to? The effect of such a production being made over something so simple is to make people doubt their own intuition. Calling into question the obvious by insisting that it be rigorously proved ... is to say to a student Your feelings and ideas are suspect. You need to think and speak our way.

Mathematics is the art of explanation.