“Hardy! What are you doing here?”
“I came to apologize. Formula 5 has an error. It can’t be proved. If you try to apply it, I can’t say what might happen.”
“Yes, I was just noticing that. If we apply formula 5 we may cause a rift in the space-time continuum and destroy the universe. Or it could just result in a little heart burn. What do you suggest, Hardy?”
" I believe mathematics is harmless, and while what we do may be small, it has a certain character of permanence; and to have produced anything of the slightest permanent interest, whether it be a rift in the space-time continuum, or devising a means of escape from a small hill of zombies.. By the way, why didn’t you run into the building across the street? It’s much taller. "
“I believe the physics department is housed there”, I replied.
“Anyway”, Hardy continued, “To have done something with the character of permanence is to have done something utterly beyond the powers of the vast majority of men*. Apply the formula!”
*A Mathematician’s Apology.