Alexander Grothendieck quotes

Alexander Grothendieck was a German-born mathematician celebrated for his groundbreaking work in algebraic geometry. His contributions transformed the foundations of modern mathematics and influenced numerous other scientific fields. He devoted his life to abstract mathematical theory and is regarded as one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. Here are 8 of his quotes:

The introduction of the digit 0 or the group concept was general nonsense too, and mathematics was more or less stagnating for thousands of years because nobody was around to take such childish steps... (Alexander Grothendieck)
I can illustrate the ... approach with the ... image of a nut to be opened. The first analogy that came to my mind is of immersing the nut in some softening liquid, and why not simply water? From time to time you rub so the liquid penetrates better, and otherwise you let time pass. The shell becomes more flexible through weeks and months - when the time is ripe, hand pressure is enough, the shell opens like a perfectly ripened avocado! A different image came to me a few weeks ago. The unknown thing to be known appeared to me as some stretch of earth or hard marl, resisting penetration ... the sea advances insensibly in silence, nothing seems to happen, nothing moves, the water is so far off you hardly hear it ... yet finally it surrounds the resistant substance. View quote
Alexander Grothendieck
It is less than four years since cohomological methods (i. e. methods of Homological Algebra) were introduced into Algebraic Geometry in Serre's fundamental paper[11], and it seems certain that they are to overflow the part of mathematics in the coming years, from the foundations up to the most advanced parts. ... [11] Serre, J. P. Faisceaux algébriques cohérents. Ann. Math. (2), 6, 197–278. View quote
Alexander Grothendieck
Among the thousand-and-one faces whereby form chooses to reveal itself to us, the one that fascinates me more than any other, and continues to fascinate me, is the structure hidden in mathematical things. View quote
Alexander Grothendieck
Fertility is measured by offspring, not by honours. View quote
Alexander Grothendieck
No one but Grothendieck could have taken on algebraic geometry in the full generality he adopted and seen it through to success. It required courage, even daring, total self confidence and immense powers of concentration and hard work. Grothendieck was a phenomenon. View quote
Alexander Grothendieck
Weil's new mathematical language, algebraic geometry, had enabled him to articulate subtleties about solutions to equations that hitherto had been impossible. But if there was any hope of extending Weil's ideas to prove the Riemann Hypothesis, it was clear they would need to be developed beyond the foundations he had laid in his prison cell in Rouen. It would be another mathematician from Paris who would bring the bones of Weil's new language to life. The master architect who performed this task was one of the strangest and most revolutionary mathematicians of the twentieth century - Alexandre Grothendieck. View quote
Alexander Grothendieck
In Récoltes et Semailles, Grothendieck counts his twelve disciples. The central character is Pierre Deligne, who combines in this tale the features of John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved”", and Judas the betrayer. The weight of symbols! View quote
Alexander Grothendieck