Shakuntala Devi
Without mathematics, there's nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.
I haven't had any formal education. Through the grace of god, I am gifted in mathematics and the English language.
If you do not use a muscle or any part of the body, it tends to become atrophic. So is the case with the brain. The more you use it, the better it becomes.
I have written a book called 'In the Wonderland of Numbers'. It's about a young girl, Neha, who is very poor in mathematics, but in a series of illusory experiences, she becomes a great mathematician.
Education is not just about going to school and getting a degree. It's about widening your knowledge and absorbing the truth about life.
Why do children dread mathematics? Because of the wrong approach. Because it is looked at as a subject.
I was performing at a New Jersey high school, and I asked a class of 2,000 students, 'How many of you love mathematics?' and only one hand went up. And that was the hand of the maths teacher!