John Edensor Littlewood Quote

It is possible for a mathematician to be "too strong" for a given occasion. He forces through, where another might be driven to a different, and possible more fruitful, approach. (So a rock climber might force a dreadful crack, instead of finding a subtle and delicate route.)

Littlewood's Miscellany (ed. Cambridge University Press, 1986) - ISBN: 9780521337021