It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all doing direct the other way.

Never underestimate the power of persistence.

A play is fiction—and fiction is fact distilled into truth.

一本正经地对待消遣和刻板地追求学问，结果就会成为一个学究。

The mathematician's patterns, like the painter's or the poet's, must be beautiful.