"Die Schwierigkeiten, die einer direkten griechischen Entlehnung aus Indien entgegenstehen, fallen bei der Annahme von Babylon als gemeinsames Ursprungsgebiet ohne weiteres weg."

"Some of my fellow graduate students did all they could to help and encourage me. They included me in most of their activities. I know this situation was not the norm for a lot of Blacks studying mathematics, but I was fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time"

"In short, my life in mathematics was, and still to a great extent is, shaped by opening doors. I have always taken advantage and walked in"

"I remember when I took calculus in college the only book I took home over the Christmas holidays was my calculus book. I wanted to do those word problems. I worked on one problem for the whole two weeks before I solved it. It wasn’t that hard, but I just didn’t understand the process involved. When the light dawned, I was so happy! I don’t believe I ever felt so rewarded. It was a major breakthrough. I was hooked. After that, to the amazement of my fellow students, I recall sitting on campus doing calculus problems for recreation."

"Educational opportunities for most minority youth, and hence their educational attainments, lag behind the chances, choices and performance of the nonminority"

"I enjoyed it immensely was never short on confidence."

"I frequently compelled individuals and groups to confront their own attitudes, behavior, and personal history."

"In the search for knowledge in science and engineering, the worst intellectual crime one can commit is to prejudice one’s results, to prejudge how something will turn out. However, this is precisely what we are doing when we fail—from elementary school to graduate school—to encourage women and minorities to enter the fields of science and engineering."

"My parents believed that education was the only avenue through which an African American man or woman could better them selves [sic]. Therefore, they encouraged all of their children to attend college, While we were not wealthy, by the standards around us, I always thought we were middle class. I was proud of the fact that my parents could vote in the presidential election. Not everyone could in those days."

"I have had many wonderful students over the years. Many have gone on for their master's and doctorate degrees and that has been most rewarding for me."

"I used to prefer teaching to administrative work, but by the time I left teaching in 1995, the students cared about nothing but the grades and they didn't care how they got them. I believe in knowledge for knowledge's sake. But students now need a reason for everything. Everything has to be useful and entertaining. And they don't study."