“A great mathematician is like a Ninja”

I almost always love Michael Hopkins’ lectures and his 2011 abel lecture is no exception. In the video at around the 13 and a half minute mark you will find this choice quote:

That may not seem like much, but you have to think of a great mathematician as like a ninja. As long as he can just touch his opponent with his toe and get any relationship at all, he can defeat the opponent.

The video is worth checking out too. I hope you enjoy.

Abel Lectures 2011: Michael Hopkins, “Bernoulli numbers, homotopy groups, and Milnor”