Re: Gauss's comment

Yes, I think he meant "true without referring to Euler's relation."
Probably true IMO. But the equation
e^(i.pi) + 1 = 0
does have a mystic appeal. Maybe therefore it was the topic of small
talk somewhere, to which Gauss made a possibly facetious contribution.
But I dunno. I wasn't present.

The Grandeur of Ghosts

When I have heard small talk about great men
I light my two candles; climb to bed; then
Consider what was said; and put aside
What Such-a-one remarked, and Someone-else replied.

They have spoken lightly of my deathless friends,
(Lamps for my gloom, hands guiding where I stumble,)
Quoting, for shallow conversational ends,
What Shelley shrilled, what Blake once wildly muttered. . . .

How can they use such names and be not humble ?
I have sat silent; angry at what they uttered.
The dead bequeathed them life; the dead have said
What these can only memorise and mumble.

-- Siegfried Sassoon

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