Cédric Villani

“When you are into mathematics, you have been so high on the scale of complexity of reasoning that you are living in some kind of altered reality. You think everybody on the street is able to understand complicated reasoning [...]. And you get very frustrated, when you discover that's not the case.”

“In some situations however, when you are deeply with your problem, you feel at home anywhere just thinking about your problem. Some of my best work was done in hotels, on the train, and there's no rule. More important when you think is what goes on inside rather outside. [...] The best thoughts can be nearly everywhere.”

“If paparazzi specialized in mathematical celebrities they'd camp outside the dining hall at the IAS and come away with a new batch of pictures every day.”

“Fields medalists are nothing out of the ordinary at Princeton—you sometimes find yourself seated next to three or four of them at lunch!”