André Weil, The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician (1992), p. 29
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All those who were acquainted with Hadamard know that until the end of his very long life, he retained an extraordinary freshness of mind and character: in many respects, his reactions remained those of a fourteen-year-old boy. His kindness knew no bounds. The warmth with which Hadamard received me in 1921 eliminated all distance between us. He seemed to me more like a peer, infinitely more knowledgeable but hardly any older; he needed no effort at all to make himself accessible to me.

— André Weil on Jacques Hadamard

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "All those who were acquainted with Hadamard know that until the end of his very long life, he retained an extraordinary freshness of mind and character: in many respects, his reactions remained those of a fourteen-year-old boy. His kindness knew no bounds. The warmth with which Hadamard received me in 1921 eliminated all distance between us. He seemed to me more like a peer, infinitely more knowledgeable but hardly any older; he needed no effort at all to make himself accessible to me." in the context of "André Weil, The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician (1992), p. 29" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Jacques Hadamard" (Quotes about Hadamard) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
André Weil

About André Weil

André Weil (6 May 1906 – 6 August 1998) was one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, whether measured by his research work, its influence on future work, exposition or breadth. He is known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry. He was a founding member, and de facto the early leader, of the influential Bourbaki group. The philosopher Simone Weil was his sister.