Indian mathematician ramanujan image with quotes

Hardy, as noted in “The Man Who Knew Infinity” by Robert Kanigel (1991)

Grab these must-read book today!

Srinivasa Ramanujan Quotes on Mathematics and Knowledge

“An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God.”

“To me, mathematics is like poetry.”

“Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.”

“The world of numbers is infinite, and each number has a soul.”

“Infinity is not just a concept.

His work covers many major areas such as continued fractions, infinite series and partitioning however he is by far most known for his revolutionary advances in the analytical theory of numbers.

He was born with an extraordinary talent for mental calculations and eventually became an expert at advanced theoretical concepts, including differential calculus and continued fractions.

The book also gave Ramanujan his general direction as a dealer in formulas, and it furnished Ramanujan the germs of many of his deepest developments. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavorable omen. I have made a special investigation of divergent series in general and the results I get are termed by the local mathematicians as “startling.”

— Srinivasa Ramanujan

First letter to G.H.

Hardy (16 Jan 1913). The same notice was printed, with slight changes, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society (A) (1921), 94, xiii—xxix.

— Srinivasa Ramanujan

Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society (26 May 1921).

I became all attention.

— G. H. Hardy

Commenting on the formulae in the letters sent by Ramanujan from India, prior to going to England. The tragedy of his life is that much of his work was wasted rediscovering known mathematics. H. Hardy(71)  |  Interesting(153)  |  Number(717)  |  Suggestion(49)  |  Sum(105)  |  Taxi(4)  |  Two(936)  |  Way(1212)

An equation means nothing to me unless it expresses a thought of God.

— Srinivasa Ramanujan

Quoted in Clifford A. Pickover, A Passion for Mathematics (2005), 1; but with no footnote to primary source.

Science quotes on:  |  Equation(139)  |  Express(195)  |  God(781)  |  Mean(812)  |  Meaning(247)  |  Means(590)  |  Nothing(1013)  |  Thought(1004)

I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust Office at Madras on a salary of only £20 per annum.

I am now about 23 years of age. He came from a simple background and made big discoveries in number theory. … Galois died at twenty-one, Abel at twenty-seven, Ramanujan at thirty-three, Riemann at forty.

— Howard Eves

In Mathematical Circles Squared (1972), 158. … Ramanujan gives no hints, no proof of his formulas, so everything you do you feel is your own.
[About verifying Ramanujan’s equations in a newly found manuscript.]

— George E.

Andrews

Quoted in John Noble Wilford, 'Mathematician's Final Equations Praised', New York Times (9 Jun 1981), C1.

Science quotes on:  |  Break(110)  |  Do(1905)  |  Equation(139)  |  Everything(491)  |  Exhilaration(7)  |  Feel(375)  |  Feeling(260)  |  Formula(102)  |  Great(1628)  |  Hint(22)  |  Proof(306)  |  Thing(1914)

The manuscript looks chaotic, even by mathematics standards.
[About newly-found late work of Srinivasa Ramanujan.]

— George E.

Andrews

Quoted in John Noble Wilford, 'Mathematician's Final Equations Praised', New York Times (9 Jun 1981), C1.

Science quotes on:  |  Chaos(99)  |  Late(119)  |  Look(584)  |  Manuscript(10)  |  Mathematics(1408)  |  Standard(66)  |  Work(1420)

There is always more in one of Ramanujan’s formulae than meets the eye, as anyone who sets to work to verify those which look the easiest will soon discover.

H. Hardy(71)  |  Integer(13)  |  Next(239)  |  Personal(79)  |  Positive(98)  |  Proof(306)  |  Reaction(107)  |  Read(313)  |  Remark(30)  |  Say(1001)  |  Sheet(8)  |  Silence(62)  |  Stand(286)  |  Wish(218)  |  Wonder(256)

When Ramanujan was sixteen, he happened upon a copy of Carr’s Synopsis of Mathematics.

As soon as I woke up, I committed them to writing.”

1. “Infinity is not just a concept; it offers a window into the universe’s limitless possibilities.”

1. “An equation for me has no meaning, unless it expresses a thought of God.”

Concluding Srinivasa Ramanujan Quotes

In exploring these 15 Srinivasa Ramanujan quotes, we’ve gained a glimpse into the mind of a true mathematical genius.

Science quotes on:  |  Blowing(22)  |  Effect(418)  |  Garden(65)  |  Landscape(46)  |  Legacy(14)  |  Seed(98)  |  Wind(143)

Numbers … were his friends.

— J.

E. Littlewood

In Béla Bollobás (ed.), Littlewood’s Miscellany, (1986), 61. What had happened was that Hardy had received the remark in silence and with poker face, and I wrote it off as a dud.

— Srinivasa Ramanujan

Opening lines of first letter to G.H. Hardy (16 Jan 1913).