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## 2007/06/04

### Digital Typography

I didn't know what to do. I had spent 15 years writing those books, but if they were going to look awful I didn't want to write any more. How could I be proud of such a product?

A mathematical formula should never be "owned" by anybody! Mathematics belongs to God.

In fact, I think contemporary society is all mixed up in its concept of "boredom": People often say to each other that they are bored, but to me this is almost a shocking, shameful admission. Why should it be somebody else's duty to entertain us? People who can't find anything of interest in what they are doing, who constantly need external sources of stimulation and amusement, are missing most of life's pleasures.

I would like to conclude this talk by quoting one of my favorite poems, written by the Danish sage Piet Hein. He calls it a "grook" --- it's sort of a Danish variant of haiku. My wife and I like it so much, we commissioned a British stonecutter to carve it in slate for the entryway of our house. It goes like this:

Well it's plain
and simple to express:

Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.

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