A. S. Troelstra and D. van Dalen in: Constructivism in Mathematics, Vol. 2, Elsevier (1988), pp. 8–9
“

In 1908 Brouwer introduced for the first time "weak counterexamples", for the purpose of showing that certain classically acceptable statements are constructively unacceptable (Brouwer 1908). Too much emphasis on these examples has sometimes created the false impression that refuting claims of classical mathematics is the principle aim of intuitionism.

— A. S. Troelstra

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In 1908 Brouwer introduced for the first time "weak counterexamples", for the purpose of showing that certain classically acceptable statements are constructively unacceptable (Brouwer 1908). Too much emphasis on these examples has sometimes created the false impression that refuting claims of classical mathematics is the principle aim of intuitionism." in the context of "A. S. Troelstra and D. van Dalen in: Constructivism in Mathematics, Vol. 2, Elsevier (1988), pp. 8–9" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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

About L. E. J. Brouwer

Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer ForMemRS (27 February 1881 – 2 December 1966), usually cited as L. E. J. Brouwer but known to his friends as Bertus, was a Dutch mathematician and philosopher, who worked in topology, set theory, measure theory and complex analysis.