Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learnt.

The line is attributed to Izaak Walton (1593–1683), the English author best known for The Compleat Angler, a dialogic celebration of fishing, rural leisure, and contemplative life first published in 1653 and repeatedly expanded in later editions. Walton’s book mixes practical instruction with anecdotes, songs, and moral reflections, presenting angling as a lifelong art learned through patience, observation, and experience rather than mere rule-following. The comparison to mathematics fits the work’s recurring theme that angling rewards disciplined attention and continual study of nature, and that mastery remains elusive even for the devoted practitioner.

Walton’s comparison suggests that angling, like mathematics, is inexhaustible: one can learn techniques and principles, yet never reach a final point of complete mastery. Both pursuits demand sustained practice, careful reasoning, and humility before complexity—whether the complexity of abstract problems or of living waters, weather, seasons, and fish behavior. The remark elevates fishing from mere sport to an intellectual and moral discipline, implying that the value lies as much in the ongoing process of learning as in any definitive achievement. It also frames angling as a contemplative craft, where curiosity and perseverance matter more than quick results.