"If you don’t have it, then there’s no point in pretending"

"I think the biggest misconception is that everybody has to learn (math). That seems to be a complete mistake. All the time worrying about pushing the children and getting them to be mathematically literate and all that stuff. It’s terribly hard on the kids. It’s also hard on the teachers. And I think it’s totally useless.

To me, mathematics is like playing the violin. Some people can do it — others can’t. If you don’t have it, then there’s no point in pretending."

~Freeman Dyson (mathematician and physicist)