I had a lot of support from my parents, who are both mathematicians. They taught me when I was little, and then gave me textbooks soon after I learned to read. On the other hand, I learn from the textbooks entirely on my own and often the books are on subjects I requested. Also, a lot of what I know I learned on the internet, and that's entirely self-directed.

Teachers and schools typically weren't much of a help because my knowledge was usually above their level (I didn't skip any grades and was even a grade behind in elementary school). However, recently I started taking classes in a university (at my parent's initiative), so that's changing.

I don't consider myself to be a conscientious person. When you phrase it as "did you have to work to seek them out" I am inclined to answer 'no' because I usually don't consider learning math as work.