Maryam Mirzakhani

1977–2017 · Iranian mathematician

Topics: mathematics, learning, creativity

• There are times when I feel like I'm in a big forest and don't know where I'm going. But then somehow I come to the top of a hill and can see everything more clearly. When that happens, it's really exciting.

  — Maryam Mirzakhani

• The beauty of mathematics only shows itself to more patient followers.

  — Maryam Mirzakhani

• I like crossing the imaginary boundaries people set up between different fields—it's very refreshing. There are lots of tools, and you don't know which one would work. It's about being optimistic and trying to connect things.

  — Maryam Mirzakhani