Economists often like startling theorems, results which seem to run counter to conventional wisdom.

To insure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time, faith is not enough, a police force is needed as well.

Abstract ideas like equality and liberty have a spurious transparency, and can be used to derive pleasing theorems in the manner of Jean-Jacques Rousseau or John Rawls.

You forget all of it anyway. First, you forget everything you learned-the dates of the Hay-Herran Treaty and Pythagorean Theorem. You especially forget everything you didn't really learn, but just memorized the night before. You forget the names of all but one or two of your teachers, and eventually you'll forget those, too. You forget your junior class schedule and where you used to sit and your best friend's home phone number and the lyrics to that song you must have played a million times. For me, it was something by Simon & Garfunkel. Who knows what it will be for you? And eventually, but slowly, oh so slowly, you forget your humiliations-even the ones that seemed indelible just fade away. You forget who was cool and who was not, who was pretty, smart, athletic, and not. Who went to a good college. Who threw the best parties Who could get you pot. You forget all of them. Even the ones you said you loved, and even the ones you actually did. They're the last to go. And then once you've forgotten enough, you love someone else.

Economists often like startling theorems results which seem to run counter to conventional wisdom.

To insure the adoration of a theorem for any length of time faith is not enough a police force is needed as well.

A mathematician is a person who can find analogies between theorems a better mathematician is one who can see analogies between proofs and the best mathematician can notice analogies between theories.