G. H. Hardy Quotes

United Kingdom, Mathematician
1877 – 1947.

Godfrey Harold "G. H." Hardy FRS (7 February 1877 – 1 December 1947) was an English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis. In biology, Hardy is known for the Hardy–Weinberg principle, a basic principle of population genetics. In addition to his research, Hardy is remembered for his 1940 essay on the aesthetics of mathematics, titled A Mathematician's Apology. He was the mentor of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Also known as Scientist, University Teacher

A science is said to be useful if its development tends to accentuate the existing inequalities in the distribution of wealth, or more directly promotes the destruction of human life.

G. H. Hardy
Most people are so frightened of the name of mathematics that they are ready, quite unaffectedly, to exaggerate their own mathematical stupidity.

G. H. Hardy
- People
- Names
- Math

I propose to put forward an apology for mathematics; and I may be told that it needs none, since there are now few studies more generally recognized, for good reasons or bad, as profitable and praiseworthy.

G. H. Hardy
- Good
- May
- Bad
A person’s first duty, a young person’s at any rate, is to be ambitious, and the noblest ambition is that of leaving behind something of permanent value.

G. H. Hardy
- Value
- Ambition
- Leaving
It is rather astonishing how little practical value scientific knowledge has for ordinary men, how dull and commonplace such of it as has value is, and how its value seems almost to vary inversely to its reputed utility.

G. H. Hardy
- Men
- Science
- Knowledge
I do not remember having felt, as a boy, any passion for mathematics, and such notions as I may have had of the career of a mathematician were far from noble. I thought of mathematics in terms of examinations and scholarships: I wanted to beat other boys, and this seemed to be the way in which I could do so most decisively.

G. H. Hardy
- May
- Remember
- Career
A month's intelligent instruction in the theory of numbes ought to be twice as instructive, twice as useful, and at least 10 times as entertaining as the same amount of 'calculus for engineers'.

G. H. Hardy
- Intelligent
A science or an art may be said to be "useful" if its development increases, even indirectly, the material well-being and comfort of men, it promotes happiness, using that word in a crude and commonplace way.

G. H. Hardy
- Men
- Art
- May