The Obstacle is the Path

On finding your own metrics for success in a world obsessed with everyone else's

Six years old Tivadar, in front of his parents’ i386. (1996, Hungary, six years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.)

I met Cédric Villani, the Fields medallist mathematician in Sweden, when he was invited to give a plenary talk, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Institut Mittag-Leffler.

After his lecture, we had a short conversation; completely unremarkable to him, profoundly impactful to me.

“Why do you always wear that spider?” — I asked.

“Because that’s who I am. It’s a part of my personality.” — came the reply.