2024
April: "What is the difference between Jews and Christians? We all await the Messiah. You believe he has already come and gone, while we do not. I therefore propose that we await him together. And when he appears, we can ask him: were you here before?" (by Elie Wiesel)
March: "We must focus on curbing unnecessary expenditures in our state instead of continuously burdening residents with new fees and charges. The billions of dollars the MTA already has should be used toward the governor's goal of improving infrastructure. Encouraging the use of public transportation over private vehicles without considering the notorious unreliability of the MTA will only funnel congestion into another flawed system." (by NY Assemblyman Ed Ra, in reaction to the MTA's congestion pricing plan)
February: "Now the LIRR doesn't only mess up the commutes and livelihoods of its customers, but of the New Yorkers who commute by car as well." (by Adam Wittenstein, March 2023)
January: "I never imagined I would see such unspeakable barbarity against Jews in my lifetime." (by Steven Spielberg, December 2023, reacting to what happened in Israel on 10/7/2023)
2023
December: "Either mathematics is too big for the human mind, or the human mind is more than a machine." (by Kurt Godel, 1906-1978)
November: "They hold elections in November because it's the best time for picking out a turkey." (from Maxine Funny's)
October: "You can't create chaos in the lives of others and expect peace to come to yours." (by Morgan Richard Oliver)
September: "In many ways, September feels like the busiest time of the year. The kids go back to school, work piles up after the summer's dog days, and Thanksgiving is suddenly upon us." (by Brene Brown)
August: "August - It's like the Sunday of Summer" (by Unknown)
July: "If I had my way, I'd remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead." (by Roald Dahl)
June: "The LIRR's new service plan with full service to East Side Access implemented back on February 27 has brought significant change to how Long Islanders travel by rail - and many of those changes have not been for the better. From longer travel times, significant overcrowding, fewer direct travel options, missed transfers, and far more delays, it has been a chaotic and exhausting three months. Each day, a torrent of complaints continue to stream in about issues and problems with the new schedules." (by Patrick O'Hara, thelirrtoday.com, 5/21/2023)
May: "The words 'I'm sorry' are a formal declaration of intent. Changed behavior is the actual apology." (by Kalen Dion)
April: "Our spring has come at last with the soft laughter of April suns and shadow of April showers." (by Byron Caldwell Smith)
March: "Now the LIRR doesn't only mess up the commutes and livelihoods of its customers, but of the New Yorkers who commute by car as well." (by Adam Wittenstein, in reaction to the recent LIRR debacle)
February: "If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." (by Napoleon Hill)
January: "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." (by Anne Bradstreet)
2022
December: "This is the season when people of all faiths and cultures are pushing back against the planetary darkness. We string bulbs, ignite bonfires, and light candles. And we sing." (by Anita Diamant)
November: "They hold elections in November because it's the best time for picking out a turkey." (from Maxine Funny's)
October: "And all at once, summer collapsed into fall." (by Oscar Wilde)
September: "Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." (by Anthony J. D'Angelo)
July/August: "Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer." (by Nat King Cole)
June: "The true test of a business customer service effort is not when things are going right - but rather what is done when things are wrong." (by Steve Ferrante)
May: "I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well." (by Diane Ackerman)
April: "No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep, and we know it." (by Hal Borland)
March: "Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." (by Ernest Hemingway)
February: "The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer." (by V. Sackville-West)
January: "New Year's Day. A fresh start. A new chapter waiting to be written." (by Sarah Ban Breathnach)
2021
December: "As we look to the new year, hold on to what is good. Let go of what is bad. It really is that simple." (by Mandy Hale)
November: "They hold elections in November because it's the best time for picking out a turkey." (from Maxine Funny's)
October: "The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here's to October..." (by A.A. Milne)
September: "If life was a book; every day would be a new page, every month would be a new chapter, and every year would be a new series." (by Elizabeth Duivenvoorde)
August: "Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August." (by Denise Levertov)
July: "Being listened to and heard is one of the greatest desires of the human heart." (by Richard Carlson)
June: "What feels like the end is often the beginning." (by T.S. Eliot)
May: "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." (by Michael Altshuler)
April: "April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in the garden." (by Marty Rubin)
March: "Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always." (by Robin Williams)
February: "There's no bad consequence to loving fully, with all your heart. You always gain by giving love." (by Reese Witherspoon)
January: "The ultimate aim of education in life is taking action at the right time. May this new year 2021 bestow conscience and knowledge on you to make the rest of your life, the best of your life!" (author unknown)
2020
December: "Mathematics is a human endeavor, created so we can better understand and engage with our world. Having a mathematically literate citizenry is imperative for many critical economic, social and human reasons." (from Why Math and STEM is a Social Justice Issue by Dr. Gina Cherkowski)
November: "Don't wait until the fourth Thursday in November, to sit with family and friends to give thanks. Make every day a day of Thanksgiving!" (by Charmaine J. Forde)
October: "Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught." (by J.C. Watts)
September: "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." (by John Dewey)
August: "It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes." (by Pres. Andrew Jackson)
July: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." (by James Baldwin)
June: "Wisdom is knowing the right path to take. Integrity is taking it." (by M.H. McKee)
May: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." (by Helen Keller)
April: "Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one in to stay." (by Maya Angelou)
March: "I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not." (by Peter Medawar)
February: "February days are a marketing gimmick; love happens every day." (by Randeep Hooda)
January: "You can get excited about the future. The past won't mind." (by Hillary DePiano)
2019
December: "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." (by Albert Einstein)
November: "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." (by Mignon McLaughlin)
October: "The mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size." (by Albert Einstein)
September: "Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world." (by Malala Yousafzai)
August: "Mathematics is the most beautiful and most powerful creation of the human spirit." (by Stefan Banach, 1892-1945)
July: "People are weird. When we find someone with weirdness that is compatible with ours, we team up and call it love." (by Dr. Seuss)
June: "Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August." (by Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty)
May: "One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes change a delinquent into a solid citizen." (by Philip Wylie)
April: "April was just beginning, and after the warm spring day it turned cooler, slightly frosty, and a breath of spring could be felt in the soft, cold air." (by Anton Chekov)
March: "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." (by Mark Twain)
February: "Mathematics is asking questions and solving them using logical deduction. There is no reason to be afraid of mathematics, if one understands that this an efficient way to analyze things in a logical way. In fact, everyone is doing mathematics all the time, whether they know it or not. Everytime you think about something, and try to understand how it works- this is mathematics." (by Jonathan Rosenberg, 2015 interview)
January: "Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man." (by Benjamin Franklin)
2018
December: "The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle." (by Robert Altinger)
October/November: "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." (by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
September: "Math is the language of science, engineering and technology. And like any language, it is best acquired through lengthy, in-depth practice." (by Barbara Oakley, Oakland University Engineering Professor)
August: "The reward for performing a mitzvah is a yearning to perform another mitzvah, and the "reward" for committing a transgression is a temptation to commit another transgression." (from Mishnah Avot 4:2)
June/July: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." (by Thomas A. Edison)
May: "Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right, decide on what you think is right and stick to it." (by George Eliot)
April: "Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever." (by Charles Lamb)
March: "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance." (by John D. Rockefeller)
February: "There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship." (by Thomas Aquinas)
January: "A great teacher can inspire a student to never-expected heights." (by Sam Grogg, Adelphi, 2015)
2017
December: "If kids come to us (teachers) from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important." (by Barbara Colorose)
November: "Honesty is the best policy." (by Benjamin Franklin)
September/October: "Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense." (by William Thomson, 1824-1907)
August: "Pick a job you'll like because if you pick a job you hate life's going to suck." (by Billy Joel)
July: "You're never too important to be nice to people." (by Jon Batiste)
June: "There is no substitute for hard work." (by Thomas Edison)
May: "Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking." (by J.C. Watts)
April: "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." (by Thomas Jefferson)
March: "I am optimistic in the long run. A great man once said that the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum. And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back." (by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg)
February: "The highest result of education is tolerance." (by Helen Keller) & "Please do not paint all Muslims with the broad brush of terrorism and violence." (by Abe Arjami, board member, Victoria Islamic Center)
January: "I'm not going to school just for the academics. I wanted to share ideas, to be around people who are passionate about learning." (by Emma Watson)
2016
December: "Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive." (by Elbert Hubbard)
November: "Most teachers waste their time by asking questions that are intended to discover what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning is to discover what the pupil does know or is capable of knowing." (by Albert Einstein)
October: "To those whom I may have wronged, I ask for forgiveness. To those I may have helped, I wish I had done more." (Author Unknown)
September: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." (by Albert Einstein)
August: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." (by Albert Einstein)
July: "Working on mathematical skills is not unlike practicing a sport: neither can be learned by watching others perform the activity and both require encouragement and effort." (by Valerie Strauss)
June: "For the things of this world cannot be known without a knowledge of mathematics." (by Roger Bacon)
May: "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." (by Malcolm X)
April: "[O]nce we see math as a language of nature, the way we perceive it should change completely. It's no longer about multiplication tables or fractions, but about something bigger than ourselves that we construct with our heads." (by Marcelo Gleiser, from his article "Why Math Rocks")
March: "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." (by Anne Bradstreet)
February: "The only way to learn mathematics is to do mathematics." (by Paul Halmos)
January: "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." (by B.B. King)
2015
December: "May the lights of Hanukkah usher in a better world for all humankind." ~Author Unknown
November: "It's not that I'm so smart; it's just that I stay with problems longer." (by Albert Einstein)
October: "Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas." (by Albert Einstein)
September: "Go down deep enough into anything and you will find mathematics." (by Dean Schlicler)
August: "[The Pan-Mass Challenge] is a truly amazing experience and each year we dedicate ourselves to this miraculous event of spirited folks from all over the country and the world and we are re-energized with a sense of life and how miracles can happen when we band together for a common cause." (by Jay Binkowitz)
July: "There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres." (by Pythagoras)
June: Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives." (by Andy Rooney)
May: "Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?" (by Robin Williams)
April: "God used beautiful mathematics in creating the world." (by Paul Dirac)
March: "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." (by Anne Bradstreet)
February: "Success is not forever and failure is not fatal." (by Don Shula)
January: "We're not going to just test our way to college readiness. We have to work in the hearts and minds of students and engage them in meaningful learning." (by Sean McComb, 2014 National Teacher of the Year)
2014
December: "How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?" (by Dr. Seuss)
November: "Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street." (by Zig Ziglar)
October: "Better teaching never comes from a political mandate...it comes from the heart of a prepared and caring teacher." (by Robert John Meehan)
September: "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." (by Nelson Mandela)
July/August: "He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day...needs to reorganize his life." (by George M. Adams, author)
June: "Mathematics for me touches on all the joys of the human mind. It has rules, patterns, and structure, yet leaves so much room for creativity and invention." (by Rebecca Goldin, PhD)
May: "Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students." (by Solomon Ortiz)
April: "Don't know if its good or bad that a Google search on Big Bang Theory the sitcom before the origin of the Universe." (by Neil deGrasse Tyson)
March: "You could be active in mathematics. You could get inside a good problem and enjoy the discovery of unexpected connections with familiar things. Sometimes, as a result, you had the pleasure of seeing everything anew." (by William McGowen Priestley)
February: "The title which I most covet is that of teacher. The writing of a research paper and the teaching of freshman calculus, and everything in between, falls under this rubric. Happy is the person who comes to understand something and then gets to explain it." (by Marshall Cohen)
January: "Mathematics is the art and science of abstraction; it is the systematic study of quantity, structure, space, and change. To paraphrase Newton, it is the language in which the universe is written. The study of mathematics provides the abilities to analyze data, discover patterns, and reason logically." (from Adelphi's University Math/CS Department webpage)
2013
December: "While Hanukkah is most often compared to Christmas because they usually fall close together, the Festival of Lights actually has more parallels with Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims left England to escape religious persecution while Hanukkah highlights the struggle Jews faced after Syrian-Greek soldiers seized the Temple and made the observance of Judaism punishable by death." (by Deborah Gitell)
November: "It is the duty of all teachers, and of teachers of mathematics in particular, to expose their students to problems much more than to facts." (by Paul Halmos)
October: "Learning is a living experience in open time, a direct human dialogue, ideally structured by a qualified teacher existing within a living, healthy academic culture." (by Dr. David Gleicher, Adelphi University)
September: "Know that you have the capacity to change everyone you meet and everything you touch; that learning is continuous, whether or not someone grades it; that others are like us as well as different; and that life is a journey in which a career is a milestone, not a destination. (by Dr. Robert A. Scott, president, Adelphi University)
August: "The human mind has never invented a labor-saving machine equal to algebra." (author unknown)
July: "In today's technological world, math is no longer just for students who go to college. ACT compared the skills needed to succeed as a freshman in college and those needed for job-training programs. They found that students need to be educated to a comparable level in algebra, geometry, data analysis, and statistics for success in either situation." (ACT, 2006)
June: "Math is like love; a simple idea, but it can get complicated." (by R. Drabek)
May: "When asked what it was like to set about proving something, the mathematician likened proving a theorem to seeing the peak of a mountain and trying to climb to the top. One establishes a base camp and begins scaling the mountain's sheer face, encountering obstacles at every turn, often retracing one's steps and struggling every foot of the journey. Finally when the top is reached, one stands examining the peak, taking in the view of the surrounding country side and then noting the automobile road up the other side!" (by Robert J. Kleinhenz)
April: "Nothing hurts more than paying an income tax, unless it is not having to pay an income tax." (by Thomas Robert Dewar)
March: "We don't blame dentists when we don't brush properly and get a cavity. So why do we blame teachers when kids don't pass because they don't study?" (by Dr. Michael Owens)
February: "If it is important you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse."
January: "May 2013 be a great year for everyone, however awesome or crappy your 2012 was."
2012
December: "Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate." (by Charles M. Schultz)
November: "[Hurricane Sandy] demonstrated the vulnerability of the seawalls, bulkheads, and electrical wires upon which Americans reply." (from the Washington Post, 11/1/2012)
October: "I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it. (by Michael Phelps)
September: "The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." (by Robert Maynard Hutchins)
August: "Islam and Judaism have a great deal in common, although people like to focus on the things that divide them." (by Rabbi Josh Hearshen, 8/5/2012)
July: "It's not that I'm so smart, its just that I stay with problems longer." (by Albert Einstein)
June: "Education should not be a matter of memorizing mysterious formulas - it should be a matter of understanding." (from Barron's Calculus by Elliot C. Gootman, Ph.D.)
May: "Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important." (by Bill Gates)
April: "Teaching-We're not in it for the income; We're in it for the outcome." (by Unknown)
March: "A treatment method or an educational method that will work for one child may not work for another child. The one common denominator for all of the young children is that early intervention does work, and it seems to improve the prognosis." (by Temple Grandin)
February: "Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins." (by Jim Rohn)
January: "In mathematics, ... [a] proven result cannot subsequently be proved false, and so a theorem - a proven mathematical fact - has an infinite life." (by Tony Crilly, in his introduction to The Big Questions: Mathematics)
2011
December: "Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow." (by Anthony D'Angelo)
November: "It is never too late to give up our prejudices." (by Henry David Thoreau, 'Economy,' Walden, 1854)
September/October: The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. (by Robert Maynard Hutchins)
August: "With an overly aggressive ticketing strategy for both parking violations and minor moving transgressions, (New York) City has become an expensive place to navigate." (by Robert Hornak, Queens Chronicle, 7-21-2011)
July: "The real significance of Euclidean geometry lies in the superb training it gives for logical thinking." (by Petr Beckmann, A History of Pi)
June: "If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel." (by Benjamin Netanyahu)
April/May: "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default." (by J.K. Rowling)
March: "Arithmetic is the gateway to algebra." (from The Way You Learned Mathematics is so Old School, by Keith Devlin and National Public Radio)
February: "Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead." (by Mac McCleary)
January: "I wish that I knew what I know now - when I was younger." (from a song)
2010
December: "A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths." (by Steven Wright)
November: "The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple." (by S. Gudder)
October: "Math is radical!" ~Bumper Sticker
September: "In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years." (by Jacques Barzun)
August: "But mathematics is the sister, as well as the servant, of the arts and is touched with the same madness and genius." (by Harold Marston Morse)
July: "Th[e Golden] ratio (1.618033...) was used by architects and artists throughout history to produce objects of great beauty." (by M. Bourne)
June: "Good writing is a reflection of clear thinking, and clear thinking rather than memorization is the knob to success in mathematics." (by Dr. Melvin Henrickson)
May: The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. (Unknown)
April: Go down deep enough into anything and you will find mathematics. (Dean Schlicter)
March: Mathematics is like love; a simple idea, but it can get complicated. (Unknown)
February: "A 2004 study by Public Agenda, a public opinion research group, indicated that more than one third of teachers had either seriously considered leaving teaching or knew a colleague who left because of intolerable student behavior." (New York Times, 11/27/2005)
January: "May your New Year be blessed with peace, love and joy. Sending you my heartfelt wishes with joy that never ends. Wishing you a very Happy New Year." (Source: Happy New Year 2010 Quotes: Latest Updated New Year 2010 Messages, Greetings and SMS | Daily World Buzz)
2009
November/December: "Daddy, people think really small numbers are easy to work with, but they are not, because really small numbers are really big negative numbers." (Eamonn Ryan, age 4, self-proclaimed mathematician)
October: A recent study from CareerCast.com, a new job site, evaluates 200 professions to determine the best and worst according to five criteria inherent to every job: income, employment outlook, physical demands, and stress. Mathematicians fared best with a median income of $94,160, strong growth potential, favorable working conditions and excellent job prospects. Most of the positions in the top ten also utilize applied math and statistics skills in their work: actuary, statistician, biologist, software engineer, computer-systems analyst, historian, sociologist, industrial engineer and accountant."
September: "A neurological disorder that affects ones ability to understand and respond to others thoughts and feelings." (definition of Asperger's Syndrome, by Attwood)
August: "Mathematics is a more powerful instrument of knowledge than any other that has been bequeathed to us by human agency." (by Rene Descartes)
July: "The ability to comprehend, develop, and utilize mathematical concepts is invaluable throughout life. All people need some fluency in this area in order to contribute to and to fare well in our contemporary world." (from the St. John's Prep Website)
June: "[A] passing score of 75 on a high school Regents exam would be a better indicator of students' readiness for college than the current 65." (by Merryl Tisch, the new chancellor of the state's Board of Regents)
May: Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one. (by Eleanor Roosevelt)
April: Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted. (by Albert Einstein)
March: We figured out that there are 256 ways to personalize a Wendys hamburger. Luckily someone was paying attention in math class. (from a Wendys paper bag)
February: It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well. (by Rene Descartes)
January: Moishe walks into a post office to send a package to his wife. The postmaster says, "This package is too heavy; you'll need another stamp." Moishe replies, "And that should make it lighter?!" (taken from Jewish Magazine)
2008
December: "Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice." (by Dave Barry)
November: "But you also are facing an uphill battle if you are trying to be the first teacher who asks students to think in class and they are already 16 years old." (by Mr. John Burnette, TeachScheme list serve)
October: "Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." (by Josef Albers)
September: "Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself." (Chinese Proverb)
August: "If you are reading this, you are not our President." (someone's bumper sticker)
July: "[T]he greater volume of traffic would make highways parking lots if every body slowed down to 55 or below." (by username "workpublic" on MSN message board)
June: "How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought independent of experience, is so admirably adapted to the objects of reality?" (Author Unknown)
May: "In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite." (In H. Eves Mathematical Circles Adieu, Boston: Prindle, Weber and Schmidt, 1977)
April: "(One) nonabsolute number is the given time of arrival, which is now known to be one of the most bizarre of mathematical concepts, a number whose existence can only be defined as being anything other than itself. In other words, the given time of arrival is the one moment of time at which it is impossible that any member of the party will arrive." (by Douglas Adams, 1952-2001)
March: "To many outsiders, mathematicians appear to think like computers, grimly grinding away with a strict formal logic and moving methodically--even algorithmically--from one black-and-white deduction to another. Yet mathematicians often describe their most important breakthroughs as creative, intuitive responses to ambiguity, contradiction, and paradox." (from the Forward to William Byers' "How Mathematicians Think: Using Ambiguity, Contradiction, and Paradox to Create Mathematics")
February: "I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes." (by Unknown)
January: I had arrived at the airport one hour early so that, in accordance with airline procedures, I could stand around. (by Dave Barry)
2007
December: "[I]n general, it is not important to see the result in math but it is critical to understand the process." (by Matthias Felleisen)
November: It is a mathematical fact that fifty percent of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class. (Author Unknown)
October: "Teaching high school, in addition to knowing one's subject matter thoroughly and being able to convey it to others, requires the grit of a long-distance runner, the stamina of a boxer going 15 rounds, the temperament of a juggler and the street smarts of a three-card monte dealer." (Professor Larry Cuban)
September: "Mathematics is not a spectator sport! Athletes do not train for sports by watching games on TV -- they must exercise and practice. Similarly, you can not learn mathematics by only listening to the lecture; you must actively and consistently participate in the learning process, both in and out of the classroom." (Prof. Stemkoski's teaching philosophy at Adelphi University)
August: "The one thing that helped students do well in all college science was having taken an advanced high school math class. That undermines a commonly held belief that math training is not particularly important or helpful for the study of biology." (by Rick Weiss)
July: "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." (by Benjamin Franklin)
June: "Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy." (by Anne Frank)
May: "The riddle does not exist. If a question can be put at all, then it can also be answered." (by Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico Philosophicus, New York, 1922)
April: Never part with your illusions. Without your dreams you may continue to exist, but you have ceased to live." (by Mark Twain)
March: Sewanhaka Central High School District Superintendent Warren Meierdiercks said: "Mrs. Schneiderman was a master teacher. She was an outstanding and fair person who in her union role, represented her membership with the highest level of professionalism, and in fact, was the consummate professional in everything she did. Etta was a mentor, friend and overall marvelous individual who cared about everyone around her. I was fortunate to call her my colleague and friend. Her legacy will remain with this district forever and we will miss her."
February: "Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe." (by Galileo)
January: "G-d made the integers, all else is the work of man." (by Leopold Kronecker)
2001-2006
Summer 2001
May: "Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." (by Abigail Adams)
June: "I often quote myself. It adds spice to my conversation." (by George Bernard Shaw)
July: "Tools and technology are important only in their application. A baboon with a computer is still a baboon." (by Ed Miller)
August: "Life is a road and I want to keep going." (from some song I forgot the name to)
Fall 2001
September: "You can't build a reputation on what
you are going to do." (by Henry Ford)
October: "Look not mournfully into the Past.
It comes not back again. Wisely improve the Present. It is
thine." (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
November: "Tomorrow is the first day of the rest
of your life."
December: "You live, you learn!" (by Alanis Morissette)
Spring 2002
January: "As mathematicians pointed out, the
first year of any era begins with a 1, so the millennium began on the first
day of 2001, the year that we [just exited] with relief. It turns out people
had good reason to be edgy about the millennial year; they just freaked
out too soon." (Newsday, page B3, 12/30/2001)
February: "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade."
March: "Success is to be measured not so much
by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which
he has overcome while trying to succeed." (by Booker T. Washington)
April/May: "The secret of success is consistency
of purpose." (by Disraeli)
Summer 2002
Summer One: "Nothing great was ever achieved
without enthusiasm" (by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Summer Two: "After another sickening Yankees
rip-off, [baseball should obtain] a salary cap. Then we'll see how dominant
the Yankees really are." (Newsday, 7/4/2002, A59)
Fall 2002
September: Most of all, a friend should be mathematical;
They should multiply the joy,
Divide the sorrow,
Subtract the past, and
Add to tomorrow.
Calculate the need deep in your heart,
And always be bigger than the sum of all their
parts.
October: Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a
subject ourselves, or we know where we can find the information upon it.
(Samuel Johnson)
November: After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist
said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles'.
(Ronnie Shakes)
December: "It is the supreme art of the teacher
to awaken joy in creating expression and knowledge." (Albert Einstein)
Spring 2003
January: What a mess we have! Confusion about
tests, credits, textbooks, Pi, money for calculators and what kind of calculators
to use, who takes which test when, Oh well, at least 2 times 2 is still
4 - no confusion about that ... except when it is 11, base 3. (MaryAnn
Casey, Saugerties H.S.)
February: Geometry is beautifully logical, and
it teaches you how to think and prove that things are so, step by step
by step. Proofs are excellent lessons in reasoning. Without logic and reasoning,
you are dependent on jumping to conclusions or - worse - having empty opinions.
(by Marilyn Vos Savant, Newsday Parade, 2/2/2003)
March/April: When the politicians complain that
TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the
circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not
all the performers are well trained. (Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965)
April/May: Generally speaking, you aren't learning
much when your mouth is moving. (Unknown)
Summer 2003
Summer One: At Heathrow Airport today, an individual
later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board
a flight while in possession of a compass, a protractor, and a graphical
calculator. Authorities believe he is a member of the notorious al-Gebra
movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction.
(Unknown)
Summer Two: It's disgusting how Mayor Bloomberg
and the cops are harassing and ticketing the hard-working men and women
of this city. I guess you have to be rich or a lowlife criminal to
do whatever you want. (By Michael McCrory, Daily News, Page 42, 7/13/2003)
Summer Two: So Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano
were hit by pitches. Where were the Yankee fans when Clemens threw
at Piazza? But I guess the Yankees and their fans feel like they
don't have the same rules as the rest of baseball. What a bunch of
hypocrites. (Excerpts from Edward Drossman, Daily News, Page 76,
7/13/2003)
Fall 2003
2004
2005
2006 February: "Don't worry about the world coming
to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." (Charles Schultz)
March/April: "Math and science are critical to
research, innovation and economic competitiveness, making it vital that
students have a solid grounding in all subjects so they can become
well-rounded citizens and skilled workers." (taken
from the CNN web article on "The Most Unpopular School
Subject") May: "When men speak ill of thee, live so as
nobody
may believe them." (by Plato) June: "Have you noticed since everyone has a
camcorder these days no one talks
about seeing UFOs like they used to?" (by Unknown)
July: "If you are considering [teaching as] a
career -
it's not a job, it is a dedication - try substituting in your local schools
first. This is a true training field. If you can handle substitute
teaching, then teaching may be the career for you. If you can't, at least
you didn't invest thousands of dollars to stand at a board and have the
students throw paperwads and curse at you." (by Linda on an AOL education
forum) August: The easiest way to find something lost
around the house is to buy a replacement. (by Unknown) September: We push our students somewhere between
frustrating and challenging ... that's where true learning happens.
(by Cynthia Johnson, director of a program at Washington state's Bellevue
Community College) October: We make a living by what we get, we make
a life by what we give. (by Sir Winston Churchill) November: The only way to keep your health is to
eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd
rather not. (by Mark Twain) December: YOU KNOW YOU
ARE LIVING IN 2006 WHEN...
September: Life is a gift so open it up and play
with it. (Unknown)
October: We have two ears and one mouth so that
we can listen twice as much as we speak. (Epictetus)
November: We are all functioning at a small
fraction of our capacity to live fully in its total meaning of
loving, caring, creatig and adventuring. Consequently, the
actualizing of our potential can become the most exciting adventure
of our lifetime." (Herbert Otto)
December: "Stop asking for directions so much.
Assuming that you're in a safe environment, pay attention and
figure things out for yourself. Have the nerve to take a wrong
turn now and then. You'll develop better working instincts and
have more self-esteem too." (by Marilyn Vos Savant, Newsday Parade,
8/31/2003)
January 2004: "When students are
'off task,' our first response should be to ask, 'What's the task?' (from
Alfie Kohn's Beyond Discipline)
February 2004: Click here only
if you are over 18 years of age.
March 2004: "Only those who dare to fail greatly
ever achieve greatly." (by Robert F. Kennedy)
April 2004: "One day a little girl was sitting
and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed
that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast
on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively
asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replied,
"Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy,
one of my hairs turns white." The little girl thought about this
revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's
hairs are white?" (Unknown)
May/June 2004: "You can't stay mad at somebody
who makes you laugh." (by Jay Leno)
July 2004: "The general number sense that kids
have these days is terrible. Why are we teaching kids circle proofs,
logs, and other things like that when they still do not understand basics
of how numbers work? We should be teaching more problem solving
skills." (Unknown)
August 2004: "When Clinton lied, no one died."
(saw on a bumper sticker while driving)
September 2004: The product of the slopes of (almost) every pair of perpendicular lines is
-1.
For example, 3 x -1/3 = -1 and -5 x 1/5 = -1.
Also, the x-axis is perpendicular to the y-axis.
The slope of the x-axis = 0.
The slope of the y-axis = infinity.
So wouldn't the product of those slopes (zero x infinity) = -1.
Yet zero x anything should = 0.
October 2004: "This is a strange country we live
in. When it comes to electing a President, we get two choices. But when we
have to select a Miss America, we get 50." (by Jay Leno)
November 2004: How can it be that mathematics,
being after all a product of human
thought independent of experience, is so admirably adapted to the
objects of reality? (by Albert Einstein)
December 2004: "If electricity comes from
electrons... does that mean morality comes from morons?" (unknown)
January: "It is nice to see two former U.S.
presidents side-by-side for one noble cause." (by AOL member "informfrank"
in reference to Presidents Bush Sr. and Clinton working toward relief aid
for tsunami victims)
February: "We ascribe beauty to that which is
simple, which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its end,
which stands related to all things, which is the mean of many extremes."
(by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
March: "While sitting at your desk, lift
your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Now, while doing
this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will
change direction. And there's nothing you can do about it!!"
April: "Moishe walks into a post office to send
a package to his wife. The
postmaster says, "This package is too heavy; you'll need another
stamp." Moishe replies, "And that should make it lighter?!" (unknown)
May: Do not worry about your difficulties in
mathematics, I assure you that mine are greater. (by Albert Einstein)
June: "Medication should never be considered
the only tool for helping a person." (by Temple Grandin)
July: "I propose that a teacher's pay be tied to
merit, not tenure. And I propose that a teacher's employment be tied to
performance, not just showing up." (by Arnold Schwarzenegger)
August: Life is good for only two things-
Discovering Mathematics and Teaching Mathematics (Simeon Poisson,
1781-1840)
September: It goes against the grain of modern
education to teach children to
program. What fun is there in making plans, acquiring discipline in
organizing thoughts, devoting attention to detail and learning to be
self-critical? (by Alan Perlis, Epigrams in Programming)
October: The right way always works! (by
Unknown)
November: What happens to all the normal and
healthy children that
are being wrongly labeled? It's tough to imagine the
ramifications for a child going to school and then being
told that he is suicidal or depressed, when he is not. (by
Ken Kramer, an investigator for Citizen's Commision on
Human Rights)
December: Historically, mathematics was
first applied with great success in astronomy and mechanics. Then it
developed into a main tool for physics, other physical sciences and
engineering. It is now becoming important in the biological, geological,
economics, business, etc. With the coming of age of the computer, applied
mathematics transcended its traditional style, and now assumes an even
greater importance and a new vitality. (From the website:
http://www.ap.columbia.edu/apam/AM/AMintro.htm)
January: You meet people who forget you; You forget
people you meet;
But sometimes you meet those people you never forget. (Author
Unknown)
Wittenstein@adelphi.edu