John von Neumann
Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist
“The only student of mine I was ever intimidated by. He was so quick. There was a seminar for advanced students in Zürich that I was teaching and von Neumann was in the class. I came to a certain theorem, and I said it is not proved and it may be difficult. Von Neumann didn't say anything but after five minutes he raised his hand. When I called on him he went to the blackboard and proceeded to write down the proof. After that I was afraid of von Neumann.” - George Pólya, *How to Solve It* (1957) 2nd edition. https://x.com/SRCHicks/status/1988028543390077195