Another great and special excellence of mathematics is that it demands earnest voluntary exertion. It is simply impossible for a person to become a good mathematician by the happy accident of having been sent to a good school; this may give him a preparation and a start, but by his own individual efforts alone can he reach an eminent position.

Conflict of Studies and Other Essays, The Conflict of Studies (p. 11), Macmillan & Company. 1873