Daily Inspiration Quote by Arthur Cayley

Cayley is doing something deceptively difficult here: he’s flattering his audience without condescending to it, and he’s defending specialization without sounding defensive. The opening hedge, "But be that as it may", is Victorian throat-clearing with a purpose. It signals that objections have already been raised - maybe the topic is too technical, too narrow, too much his private obsession - and he’s choosing to proceed anyway, but with tact.

The key move is the pivot to respect. He frames plain speaking not as self-indulgence but as courtesy: it would be less respectful to dodge his real subject or dilute it into polite generalities. That’s a subtle rebuke to the social expectation that a speaker should entertain rather than immerse. In a culture where public lectures were part education and part performance, Cayley insists that seriousness is the compliment.

Then comes the quiet confession: "the subject which has occupied me, and in which I am myself most interested". He’s admitting bias up front - the work is not neutral, it’s chosen - while also modeling the engine of intellectual life: sustained attention. For a mathematician, "occupied" matters. Math isn’t inspiration on demand; it’s being lived with, returned to, worried at. His intent is to invite the listener into that long courtship, and his subtext is a promise: if you grant me patience, I’ll try to make my private intensity legible to you.