At 7:13 PM -0200 1/5/99, Julio Gonzalez Cabillon wrote:
> I *vaguely* recall a tale of the same family:
>
> A young mathematician _X_ asked an established mathematician _Y_ for a
> letter of recommendation. Apparently, _Y_ agreed, and encouraged _X_
> to write the covering letter himself, since he would sign it.
> "Remember... don't be modest", said _Y_, "you have accomplished too
> little to be modest".
>
> Have you ever heard of this anecdote? If so, who are X and Y? ...
>
> --JGC
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Jerry Uhl juhl@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Professor of Mathematics 1409 West Green Street
University of Illinois Urbana,Illinois 61801
Calculus&Mathematica, DiffEq&Mathematica, Matrices, Geometry&Mathematica
http://www-cm.math.uiuc.edu and http://netmath.math.uiuc.edu
All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.
-----Edward Gibbon