"This is the Frankenstein aspect of mathematics — we have the authority to define our creations, to instill in them whatever features or properties we choose, but we have no say in what behaviors may then ensue as a consequence of our choices."

Paul Lockhart — Exultation

I just love the way he envisions the world of math, how vivid he portrays the behavior of the notions and numbers and their abilities once you’ve given them a certain value. Numbers have lives of their own. We can’t control them, once we decide what we mean by them, we have no say in how they behave. Nothing we can do except watch them and try to understand them. If they taught public educational math in this way, I think I would have been a lot more interested in the subject to be quite honest.