Looking for a quote about mathematics, possibly used as a preface I'm not sure if this is the right place or tag to ask this, but I have a quote in mind that I cannot find a reference for. The quote said something about how mathematics can become unmoored from the original questions and start to become navel gazing. I'm definitely making it sound more harsh than it actually is, but this is the rough guideline. I think it was in the context of saying that the way algebraic geometry is studied you'd never think that it had something to do with finding zeros of polynomials even though that is extremely useful. Not trying to start a fight over if that is correct, just trying to find it. Thanks in advance!
 A: Here are a few of the results I was able to find. I have provided links to where you can read the full extracts at the bottom of my answer.

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*"Once geometry was no longer about physical space and mathematics was unmoored from physics, it became important to explain where the reliability (if any!) of mathematical results came from" $[1]$.


*"I show that music, interpreted as a kind of “sensible mathematics,” played a crucial though largely underappreciated role in uniting mathematical and empirical European scientific traditions. I describe the upheavals that saw music theory become unmoored and drift away from what came to be known as modern science." $[2]$


*"the traditionalists [...] said the progressive approach allowed students to become unmoored from the building blocks of the subject, leaving them unprepared for more advanced mathematics" $[3]$
I have also found that similar quotes were contained in "God and the Mathematics of Infinity" and "Duel at Dawn" (referenced in the comments), however, these two did not have reliable full quotes online that I could find.
1] Plato's Ghost
2] Sensible Mathematics: The Science of Music
3] World of Science Encyclopaedia
