This is a supremely accurate quote - mathematicians often encounter this when teaching undergrads in lower level courses. I remember encountering some very smar

This is a supremely accurate quote - mathematicians often encounter this when teaching undergrads in lower level courses. I remember encountering some very smart people while teaching in grad school, but the people themselves did not recognize themselves as smart or gifted in the discipline due to their upbringing. It was a sad thing to see, and I would encourage them that they could be successful in mathematics if they wanted to & that they possessed the gift of intelligence to succeed. I hope I left a mark on their lives, although I am not able to see how they turned out (after all, I was just a TA for their one semester with me).