Daniel Tammet Quotes

Powerful Daniel Tammet for Daily Growth

About Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet (born March 31, 1980) is a British writer, linguist, and autistic savant. Known for his extraordinary ability in numbers, languages, and the synesthetic mapping of abstract concepts onto visual images, Tammet has captivated audiences with both his unique talents and insightful reflections on neurodiversity. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Tammet was diagnosed with high-functioning autism at age three. His early education struggled to accommodate his unusual abilities, but he thrived once transferred to a progressive school. He became fluent in seven languages by the age of seven and is now proficient in more than a dozen. His memoir "Born on a Blue Day" (2006), an international bestseller, recounts his journey through life with autism while showcasing the extraordinary abilities that come with it. The book offers readers a profound understanding of neurodiversity and challenges common misconceptions about autism. Tammet's most notable work is arguably "Journey into the Words of a Deaf Blind Brain" (2012), where he collaborated with Oliver Sacks to explore his synesthetic experiences and the neurological basis for his exceptional memory skills. His latest book, "Embracing the Wide Sky: A Tour Across the Horizons of the Human Mind" (2019), delves into various aspects of human cognition, creativity, and perception. It combines Tammet's personal insights with scientific research to offer a fascinating exploration of the mind and its potentialities. Daniel Tammet continues to challenge our understanding of neurodiversity while inspiring people around the world with his extraordinary abilities and deep reflections on the human condition.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Language isn't just words, after all; it's the foundation of our thoughts."

This quote emphasizes the integral role language plays in shaping human thought processes. Language not only provides a means to communicate ideas but also serves as a tool that helps us organize, structure, and understand our own thoughts. It is the framework upon which we build our understanding of the world, ourselves, and our experiences. Without language, our cognitive abilities would be less developed and our ability to share knowledge and ideas would be significantly limited.

"Math is not about numbers, equations, and formulas; it's about using them to understand patterns in the world."

This quote by Daniel Tammet emphasizes that mathematics goes beyond numerical values, equations, or formulae. Instead, it signifies a tool for understanding, discovering, and interpreting patterns within the world we live in. These patterns can be observed in nature, physics, social dynamics, and many other areas of life. By using mathematical principles to analyze these patterns, we gain insights into how things work, make predictions, and solve problems that were previously unknown or unanswerable. Essentially, mathematics serves as a language for expressing the inherent orderliness and structure of the universe.

"I don't see numbers as abstract symbols, but as a living tapestry woven from countless stories."

Daniel Tammet's quote suggests that he experiences numbers not merely as mathematical constructs, but rather as rich narratives or stories. In other words, numbers are not just symbols to him; they hold personal, emotional, and perhaps even contextual meaning. This perspective could indicate a unique way of perceiving and connecting with abstract concepts, enriching one's understanding and appreciation of the world.

"Everybody has their own kind of intelligence, their own way of seeing things and understanding the world."

This quote emphasizes that everyone's intellectual abilities and perceptions are unique. It suggests that each person possesses a distinct mode or style of comprehension and observation of the world around them. This uniqueness stems from the diverse cognitive processes, learning styles, and personal experiences that shape our understanding and interaction with the environment. In essence, it highlights the importance of appreciating individual differences and promoting an inclusive society where everyone's unique perspectives are valued and respected.

"Language is our best friend, our worst enemy, and the means by which we try to understand each other."

Language serves as a powerful tool for communication and understanding among humans. On one hand, it allows us to form relationships, express complex thoughts, and share knowledge. However, language can also be a source of misunderstanding due to its inherent limitations and the diversity of human perspectives. Thus, while we use language to connect with others, it is essential to recognize its potential for both enriching and complicating our interactions.

I have never played the lottery in my life and never will. Voltaire described lotteries as a tax on stupidity. More specifically, I think, on innumeracy.

- Daniel Tammet

My Life, Think, I Think, Voltaire

If when we are taught English we are just taught the rules of grammar, it would take all our love of our language away from us. What makes us love a subject like English is when we learn all these fantastic stories. Feeding the imagination is what makes a subject come alive.

- Daniel Tammet

Love, Alive, Away, Fantastic

I love music. I have a fondness for Chopin, and I very much like his 'Raindrop Prelude.'

- Daniel Tammet

Love, Very, I Love, Prelude

I consider social skills a bit like learning a language. I've been practising it for so long over so many years I've almost lost my accent.

- Daniel Tammet

Over, Been, Social, Accent

Working with the doctors is a fascinating two-way process. I am interested in what they suggest about why I'm the way I am. But if they could make me 'normal', I wouldn't want that. I've been like this for so long, it's what makes me .

- Daniel Tammet

Why, Been, About, Two-Way

There is this mythology that says that when people are born, their brains are essentially fixed very early on and they're not able to change their connections. I was aware that was a myth and that people could learn new skills.

- Daniel Tammet

Skills, Aware, Very, Fixed

I think if I ever stopped pushing myself, I would revert quickly to quite repetitive, restrictive behaviour. But in pushing myself and concentrating on what I can do, I think I can contribute to society. And that gives me the desire to keep pushing, to see what I'm capable of. The thing to do is not to stop.

- Daniel Tammet

I Think, Concentrating, Restrictive

Fischer, the great American chess champion, famously said, 'Chess is life.' I would say, 'Pi is life.'

- Daniel Tammet

Chess, American, Say, Fischer

Even the greatest mathematicians, the ones that we would put into our mythology of great mathematicians, had to do a great deal of leg work in order to get to the solution in the end.

- Daniel Tammet

Work, Deal, Had, Great Deal

My autism is a very mild form. It was diagnosed at the age of 25, partly because it wasn't diagnosable as a teenager (this is Asperger's syndrome, specifically). But there were certainly traits within that condition, within the autism spectrum in general, especially at the high functioning end, that I think are best looked at as pluses.

- Daniel Tammet

I Think, Very, Traits, Specifically

Often autism is portrayed in the media as a very negative condition, as something that prevents somebody from communicating or from socializing or from being able to have any kind of normal, happy life.

- Daniel Tammet

Kind, Normal, Very, Socializing

Retaining a sense of control is really important. I like to do things in my own time, and in my own style, so an office with targets and bureaucracy just wouldn't work.

- Daniel Tammet

Work, My Own, Like, Retaining

When I achieved the European record for reciting pi in 2004, this captured the imagination of Professor Simon Baron-Cohen in Cambridge, and he finally diagnosed me with Asperger's that year.

- Daniel Tammet

Year, Finally, European, Cambridge

Squaring numbers is a symmetrical process that I like very much. And when I divide one number by another, say, 13 divided by 97, I see a spiral rotating downwards in larger and larger loops that seem to warp and curve. The shapes coalesce into the right number. I never write anything down.

- Daniel Tammet

Very, Larger, Rotating, Symmetrical

Someone who copies a Van Gogh does not therefore become Van Gogh, and the same would go for Mozart or anyone else who contributed something that was original. Certainly in the way that I described visualizing numbers in abstract, meaningful shapes.

- Daniel Tammet

Numbers, Van Gogh, Copies, Mozart

Growing up, I would have to watch the other children and learn from my mistakes. I would have to push myself to overcome the things most people don't have to think about. Brushing my teeth was very difficult because of the noise of the brush.

- Daniel Tammet

Overcome, Other, Very, Brushing

It was a gradual process, realising I was different. I remember at primary school getting a worksheet with sums printed on it. I thought that they must have run out of the right colour inks and sizes for the numbers, because they were all the same, which isn't how I experienced numbers at all. To me, nine is big and blue.

- Daniel Tammet

Big, I Remember, Nine, Primary

There is no such thing as an average person. They really are guidelines for people to grapple with the unknown, and we can always surprise expectations.

- Daniel Tammet

Surprise, Average, Always, Guidelines

I certainly have routines in my day-to-day life that are important to me and still give me feelings of security and control, but the capacity to break out of them every so often as I travel has given me a second wind.

- Daniel Tammet

Life, Capacity, Out, Wind

I do read a lot, and I think in recent years the ratio between the amount of non-fiction and fiction has tipped quite considerably. I did read fiction as a teenager as well, mostly because I was forced to read fiction, of course, to go through high school.

- Daniel Tammet

Through, I Think, Mostly, Teenager

There are always things I find difficult - being in crowds, remembering faces. I do like routines. I always travel with someone. My life in Avignon is a very quiet one. I have an apartment that looks over the whole city. I can drop into town, but a lot of the time I write from home. In some respects I still live a very quiet, simple life.

- Daniel Tammet

My Life, Drop, Very, Respects

There are estimated to be fewer that 50 prodigious savants worldwide. If we were brought together, it would be disappointing in the sense of us having different abilities. One thing that would make me feel united with them would be the sense of us having grown up in isolation.

- Daniel Tammet

United, Brought, Fewer, Disappointing

From 'Embracing the Wide Sky', I went to the States, to Canada and to different parts of Europe as well. I gave interviews in several languages.

- Daniel Tammet

Sky, Wide, Languages, Embracing

I can well imagine that certain writers, even writers that we'd consider today very great writers, may not necessarily have tested highly on IQ just because of their numerical skills, or maybe they may not be very good at memory, and are not particularly good at these kinds of tests.

- Daniel Tammet

Memory, Maybe, Very, Highly

Aesthetics - rather than reason - shapes our thought processes. First comes aesthetics, then logic. 'Thinking in Numbers' is not about an attempt to impress the reader but to include the reader, draw the reader in, by explaining my experiences - the beauty I feel in a prime number, for example.

- Daniel Tammet

Beauty, Thought, Reason, Explaining

I did have a very restricted, regimented life. There was a kind of happiness there, a contentment, but it was a small happiness within very clear and delineated borders.

- Daniel Tammet

Small, Within, Very, Restricted

Our thoughts and our feelings, of course, are not wholly objective, they're inherently subjective. And that's the danger, and I think as long as we're aware of it and can push back against it, I don't think that these two views are necessarily incompatible.

- Daniel Tammet

Against, I Think, Wholly, Feelings

My family supported me. I wasn't hot-housed at all as a young child; I didn't go to any kind of gifted school. They didn't exist in the very poor parts of England when I grew up in the 1980s. I had a great time to learn, had access to libraries and teachers who were patient and enthusiastic when I showed ability in some subjects.

- Daniel Tammet

Some, Access, Very, 1980s

How any person decides to emphasize strengths and mitigate weaknesses is something people have to figure out for themselves. I'm wary of the self-help literature that suggests there are certain rules. I'm very happy for people to look at my story and say it's possible to achieve many things.

- Daniel Tammet

Happy, Achieve, Very, Something People

When I multiply numbers together, I see two shapes. The image starts to change and evolve, and a third shape emerges. That's the answer. It's mental imagery. It's like maths without having to think.

- Daniel Tammet

Numbers, I See, Maths, Imagery

I recited Pi to 22,514 decimal points in five hours and nine minutes. I was able to do this because of weeks of study, aided by the unusual synaesthesic way my mind perceives numbers as complex multidimensional coloured and textured shapes.

- Daniel Tammet

Study, Nine, Weeks, Aided

One of the lines from my books is about having respect for different minds, and if I had to have an epitaph at this point in my life, that would be it.

- Daniel Tammet

My Life, About, Having, Epitaph

Six is the hardest number for me to experience, the smallest. It's the absence of something - it's cold, dark, almost like a black hole. If someone tells me they are depressed, I might imagine myself in the hole of a six to help me empathise.

- Daniel Tammet

Absence, Almost, Smallest, Depressed

Life is going to be complex, and the only way we're able navigate our way through it at all is by living as best we can and absorbing those experiences and somehow making intuitive responses in future situations that resemble them in some way.

- Daniel Tammet

Through, Some, Resemble, Intuitive

It was hard for me to find my voice because I was, for so long, absorbed in my own world.

- Daniel Tammet

Voice, Own, My Own, Absorb

I was incredibly lucky that my first book found a large and loyal readership. It changed my life - from being a very withdrawn adult to living in Paris as a full-time writer. It has also given me enormous confidence.

- Daniel Tammet

My Life, Lucky, Very, Readership

Every culture has contributed to maths just as it has contributed to literature. It's a universal language; numbers belong to everyone.

- Daniel Tammet

Everyone, Belong, Maths, Universal

We will always have more to discover, more to invent, more to understand and that's much closer to art and literature than any science.

- Daniel Tammet

Art, Discover, Always, Closer

37 is a lumpy number, a bit like porridge. Six is very small and dark and cold, and whenever I was little trying to understand what sadness is I would imagine myself inside a number six and having that experience of cold and darkness. Similarly, number four is a shy number.

- Daniel Tammet

Small, Shy, Very, Similarly

I know from my own experience that there is much more to 'intelligence' than an IQ number. In fact, I hesitate to believe that any system could really reflect the complexity and uniqueness of one person's mind, or meaningfully describe the nature of his or her potential.

- Daniel Tammet

Fact, Own, Complexity, Potential

My first memory - at about four - was of numbers. The doctors who study me think a combination of mild autism and seizures I had when I was three have made me experience numbers the way I do.

- Daniel Tammet

Memory, Think, Study, Combination

My mother is not a model. She is not perfect. That awareness is part of learning to love someone. Predicting the actions of someone is an act of love. We persist, even when we get it wrong. That's the beauty of love.

- Daniel Tammet

Love, Beauty, Perfect, To Love

The way that I approached numbers, think about them, the same as for language as well-acquiring vocabulary, understanding the grammar, the structures of languages, the rhythm, the music and so-on - these things obviously evolved.

- Daniel Tammet

Think, Languages, Evolved, Structures

Logic obviously is important. You need to be able to figure things out, to go to the end of a particular problem. But intuition is very important because it references things that logic alone cannot.

- Daniel Tammet

References, Very, Figure, Logic

I found maths very easy, but I still enjoyed discovering things. You have to have the necessary information. For example, what's the difference between the mean and the median? Probability fascinated me. You have to think very carefully about things, which is the way my mind works anyway.

- Daniel Tammet

Very, Works, Maths, Anyway

I was desperate for a friend, and I used to lie in bed at night thinking about what it would be like. My younger brothers and sisters had friends, and I used to watch them playing to try to work out what they did and how friendship worked.

- Daniel Tammet

Friendship, Bed, Desperate, Work Out

I'm not sure I'm the only savant with high IQ or with an above average IQ. Again, it may just be that we don't know very many of the others.

- Daniel Tammet

Average, Sure, Very, IQ

What I do find surprising is that other people do not think in the same way. I find it hard to imagine a world where numbers and words are not how I experience them!

- Daniel Tammet

Think, Other, Imagine, Surprising

When things don't come so naturally to you, you want to persevere, you want to keep pushing yourself to overcome obstacles that prevent you from having the kind of life that you want to have.

- Daniel Tammet

Kind, Persevere, Having, Pushing

I'm very comfortable with the idea of there being late bloomers, and for me, of course, there's no difficulty at all in the way that I think of talent and achievement and so on.

- Daniel Tammet

Think, I Think, Very, Difficulty

I've got a quiet voice. I think it's because as a child I didn't speak very much. I used to put my fingers in my ears to feel the silence, which was like a lovely trickling motion in my head.

- Daniel Tammet

Voice, I Think, Very, Fingers

Of course creativity is a mystery. We don't know what drives it or what constitutes it. It's one of those things, like genius, you know it when you see it but it's impossible to define.

- Daniel Tammet

Impossible, Genius, Like, Mystery

In my mind, numbers and words are far more than squiggles of ink on a page. They have form, color, texture and so on. They come alive to me, which is why as a young child I thought of them as my 'friends.'

- Daniel Tammet

Color, Thought, Alive, Texture

Reading and discovering fiction has taught me how to empathise, understand falling in love and all those complex relationships that people have to deal with.

- Daniel Tammet

Love, Falling, Discovering, Complex

I feel traveling certainly does broaden the mind. In my case certainly I feel more confident. It gives you a new perspective on the world.

- Daniel Tammet

Mind, New, Certainly, Traveling

I would play with numbers in a way that other kids would play with their friends.

- Daniel Tammet

Play, Other, Would, Other Kids

I love books so much. I've read more books than anyone else I know.

- Daniel Tammet

Love, More, Read, Anyone Else

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