>>1780"....It was fun to solve
mathematical problems, but in a deeper sense mathematics was boring
and empty because for me it had no purpose. If I had worked on applied
mathematics I would have contributed to the development of the
technological society that I hated, so I worked only on pure mathematics.
But pure mathematics was only a game. I did not understand then, and I
still do not understand, why mathematicians are content to fritter away their whole lives in a mere game. I myself was completely dissatisfied with such a life. "