1, 2, 3, \infty

Since the time of Greek philosophy, scholars have prided themselves on their ability to understand something about infinity; and it has become traditional in some circles to regard finite things as essentially trivial, too limited to be of any interest. It is hard to debunk such a notion, since there are no accepted standards for demonstrating that something is interesting, especially when something finite is compared with something transcendent. Yet I believe that the climate of thought is changing, since finite objects are proving to be such fascinating objects of study.

Donald E. Knuth, Mathematics and Computer Science: Coping with Finiteness, 1976