I remain in awe of the [1-page paper](https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=213476) which started the whole geometric quantization approach to representations (with symplectic manifolds, moment maps, prequantum bundles, polarizations). Unlike many “short proof” papers quoted here, it’s “just” an announcement — but as a string of true statements which ended up driving the field for decades, I find its ***importance***/***length*** stunning: ----- 