[FOM] alleged Hilbert quote

[Richard Zach]

On Fri, 2005-04-08 at 11:19 -0700, Martin Davis wrote:
> Thanks to all who responded. As I presumed, the quotation is spurious - 
> apparently having been initiated by E.T. Bell.

It took my library a while, but I've now looked up both the Bell volumes
and Rose's book, which is a collection of mathematical quotations.  Rose
attributes the quote to Hilbert, but gives no reference.  Presumably he
took the quote from Bell, although Bell does not claim that it's a
direct quote.  Bell also gives no reference.  I'm guessing that the
quote originates from Ramsey's "Mathematical Logic" (The Mathematical
Gazette 13, 1926; reprinted in D. H. Mellor, ed., F. P. Ramsey:
Philosophical Papers, Cambridge UP): "Mathematics proper is thus
regarded as a sort of game, played with meaningless marks on paper
rather like noughts and crosses" (p. 231 of the reprint).

-Richard