Quotations

Israil Gelfand


View the biography of Israil Gelfand


The older I get, the more I believe that at the bottom of most deep mathematical problems there is a combinatorial problem.
Lecture to Courant Institute (1990)
If you ask a drunkard what number is larger, 2/3 or 3/5, he might not be able to tell you. But if you rephrase the question: What is better, 2 bottles of vodka for 3 people, or 3 bottles of vodka for 5 people, he will tell you right away.
From Love and Math, by Edward Frenkel