The mathematics are distinguished by a particular privilege, that is, in the course of ages, they may always advance and can never recede. – Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Although he may not always recognize his bondage, modern man lives under a tyranny of numbers. – Nicholas Eberstadt, The Tyranny of Numbers: Mismeasurement and Misrule

With my full philosophical rucksack I can only climb slowly up the mountain of mathematics. – Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value