Albert Einstein Quotes
"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
"Our task must be to free ourselves . . . by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
(quoted in Life magazine, 9 January 1950) The grand aim of all science is to cover the greatest number of empirical facts by logical deduction from the smallest number of hypotheses or axioms.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.
To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.
I do not much believe in education. Each man ought to be his own model, however frightful that may be.
If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.
Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.
When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
Imagination is more important than knowledge...
(Referring to Mahatma Gandhi after Gandhi`s assassination) Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth!
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
(giving the most practical, understandable explanation of the Theory of Relativity; how time can expand or contract) You spend 30 minutes with a beautiful girl, it seems like a moment. You spend a moment sitting on a hot stove, it seems like 30 minutes.
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.
Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That`s relativity.
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I`m not sure about the former.
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and the noblest driving force behind scientific research.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax.
I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.
Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.
An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.
Truth is what stands the test of experience.
The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
The eternal mystery of the universe is its comprehensibility.
Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.
(Quoted by Ted Morgan in the book "FDR", Simon & Schuster, 1985) I made one great mistake in my life - when I signed the letter to (President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) recommending that atom bombs be made . . . but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.
(Upon learning of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima) If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith!
If the facts don`t fit the theory, change the facts.
Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all through the months and years but a photograph always remains the same. How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind.
Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible.
I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
There is a race between mankind and the universe. Mankind is trying to build bigger, better, faster, and more foolproof machines. The universe is trying to build bigger, better, and faster fools. So far the universe is winning.
As a young man, my fondest dream was to become a geographer. However while working in the customs office I thought deeply about the matter and concluded that it was far too difficult a subject. With some reluctance, I then turned to physics as a substitute.
Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.
Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death
The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
Force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels.
Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury - to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for every one, best both for the body and the mind.
...beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.
Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive, but the desire to be acknowledged as better, stronger or more intelligent than a fellow being or fellow scholar easily leads to an excessively egoistic psychological adjustment, which may becom
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world.
The man of science is a poor philosopher.
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.
Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I`m not sure about the the universe.
Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while
A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.
The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything
The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.
The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!
Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it
It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.
The only real valuable thing is intuition.
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn`t happen at once.
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest
If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.
It is appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity
Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed.
Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.
"Scientists investigate that which already is;
Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.
If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.
One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.
I sometimes ask myself how it came about that I was the one to develop the theory of relativity. The reason, I think, is that a normal adult never stops to think about problems of space and time. These are things which he has thought about as a child.
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices, but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thought in clear form.
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater.
When the solution is simple, God is answering.
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
No, this trick won`t work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?
At any rate, I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.
for those who would joyously march in rank and file, they have already earned my contempt, for they were given a large brain by accident when a spinal chord would have sufficed.
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.
Space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind union of the two will preserve an independent reality
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
Relativity applies to physics, not ethics
I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.
It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.
Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one
Only a life lived for others is worth living
I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I`m not sure about the former.
It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.
When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That`s relativity.
Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT`S relativity.
Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure.
Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
The idle man does not know what it is to enjoy rest.
Information is not knowledge.
I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.
Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature.
The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully have been kindness, beauty, and truth
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.
True religion is real living; living with all one`s soul, with all one`s goodness and righteousness.
It is the theory that decides what can be observed
The search for truth is more precious than its possession.
As far as I`m concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue.
Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -how passionately I hate them!
We can`t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.
The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don`t do anything about it.
The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.
I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive.
A religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt about the significance of those superpersonal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation
We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
Joy in looking and comprehending is nature`s most beautiful gift.
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I`m not sure about the universe.
It`s not that I`m so smart, it`s just that I stay with problems longer.
The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder.
Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.
True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist.
The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.
Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not for God.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
