Algebra is the offer made by the devil to the mathematician. The devil says: "I will give you this powerful machine, it will answer any question you like. All you need to do is give me your soul: give up geometry and you will have this marvellous machine."

Michael Atiyah
British mathematician
"Mathematics in the 20th Century: Geometry Versus Algebra," Mathematics Today, 2001, pp. 46- 53