‘‘The point about zero is The point about zero is that we do not need to that we do not need to use it in the operations use it in the operations of daily life. No one of daily life. No one goes out to buy zero goes out to buy zero fish’.fish’.

Alfred North WhiteheadAlfred North Whitehead

‘‘It was absolute nothingness. It was It was absolute nothingness. It was a kind of formlessness without any a kind of formlessness without any definition…. True reasoning definition…. True reasoning convinced me that I should wholly convinced me that I should wholly subtract all remnants of every kind subtract all remnants of every kind of form if I wished to conceive the of form if I wished to conceive the absolutely formless. I could not absolutely formless. I could not achieve this’.achieve this’.

St. AugustineSt. Augustine

‘‘Where there is the Where there is the Infinite there is joy. Infinite there is joy. There is no joy in the There is no joy in the finite’.finite’.

The UpanishadThe Upanishad

‘‘Nothingness is being and Nothingness is being and being nothingness…. Our being nothingness…. Our limited mind can not grasp or limited mind can not grasp or fathom this, for it joins fathom this, for it joins infinity’.infinity’.

Azrael of GeronaAzrael of Gerona

‘‘What is man in nature? What is man in nature? Nothing in relation to Nothing in relation to the infinite, everything the infinite, everything in relation to nothing, a in relation to nothing, a mean between nothing mean between nothing and everything’.and everything’.

Blaise PascalBlaise Pascal

‘‘If we lift the veil and look If we lift the veil and look underneath … we shall underneath … we shall discover much emptiness, discover much emptiness, darkness, and confusion…. darkness, and confusion…. They are neither finite They are neither finite quantities, nor quantities quantities, nor quantities infinitely small, nor yet infinitely small, nor yet nothing’.nothing’.

Bishop BerkeleyBishop Berkeley

-1-1: : It is ‘a fine and It is ‘a fine and wonderful refuge of the wonderful refuge of the divine spirit—almost an divine spirit—almost an amphibian between being amphibian between being and non-being’.and non-being’.

Gottfried Wilhelm LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz