>Grothendieck almost never worked with specific examples. It has been said that once, when he was asked to use a prime number to demonstrate something on the blackboard, he said, “You mean an actual number? O.K., take fifty-seven.” Fifty-seven is not a prime number—it’s nineteen times three—and it is now known as Grothendieck’s prime.

I've had a few professors over my years in academia who took a similar approach to mathematics and I have to say I really benefited from it. I found that if you can do high level math with a,b,& c instead of 1,2,& 3 you can do any problem your going to run into.

I also left the story oh his Grothendieck’s prime in because I find it quite charming, the idea that this exceptional mathematician couldn't think of a prime when asked makes me feel a lot better about some of the sillier mistakes I've made over my career.