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Bill Thurston cited personal communication with himself, which is a pretty unusual source.

I will reject a paper if it references a private communication with author oneself. Just tell the truth, undisclosed prior work.

I believe it was his thesis and I assume it was tongue in cheek.

Inevitably, I’m going to have to ask for a reference.

He used to sit on the floor of his office with the lights off under a giant moving box and brainstorm math.

Reference: personal communication

Amusingly enough, it's personal communication with one of his students.