It is often more convenient to possess the ashes of great men than to possess the men themselves during their lifetime. [Commenting on the return of Descartes' remains to France]
Carl Jacobi
Source: H. Eves Mathematical Circles Adieu, Boston: Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, 1977.
It is true that Fourier had the opinion that the principal aim of mathematics was public utility and explanation of natural phenomena; but a philosopher like him should have known that the sole end of science is the honor of the human mind, and that under this title a question about numbers is worth as much as a question about the system of the world.
Carl Jacobi
Source: N. Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims, Raleigh NC:Rome Press Inc., 1988.
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