Albert Einstein

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Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world; he then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it. This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own fashion.

Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies… It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.

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 problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.

“When the number of factors coming into play in a phenomenological complex is too large scientific method in most cases fails. One need only think of the weather, in which case the prediction even for a few days ahead is impossible. Nevertheless, no one doubts that we are confronted with a causal connection whose causal components are in the main known to us. Occurrences in this domain are beyond the reach of exact prediction because of the variety of factors in operation, not because of any lack of order in nature.”
“Scientific research is based on the idea that everything that takes place is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people. For this reason, a research scientist will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish addressed to a Supernatural Being.” -[Albert Einstein, 1936, responding to a child who wrote and asked if scientists pray. Source: “Albert Einstein: The Human Side”, Edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann]

“The release of the atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known I should have become a watchmaker.”

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.
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!
How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.

“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
“The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt: he received is great brain by mistake; the spinal cord would have been amply sufficient.” — (Ideas and Opinions, p.10.)

Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: because
we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.

Dear Miss — -
I have read about 16 pages of your manuscript … I suffered exactly the same treatment at the hands of my teachers who disliked me for my independence and passed over me when they wanted assistants … keep your manuscript for your sons and daughters, in order that they may derive consolation from it and not give a damn for what their teachers tell them or think of them. … There is too much education altogether. — The World as I See It (To a student), The Wisdom Library, New York, 1949, pp 21–22.

I have never belonged wholeheartedly to a country, a state, nor to a circle of friends, nor even to my own family.

When I was still a rather precocious young man, I already realized most vividly the futility of the hopes and aspirations that most men pursue throughout their lives. Well-being and happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim. I am even inclined to compare such moral aims to the ambitions of a pig. — (Written in old age) Quoted in C.P. Snow, Variety of Men, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, U.K. 1969, p 77.

If relativity is proved right, the Germans will call me a German,
the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist.
If relativity is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss,
the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.

I want to know God’s thoughts,….. the rest are details.

Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions.

A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” -[Albert Einstein, “Religion and Science”, New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930]

“The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them.” -[Albert Einstein, letter to Sigmund Freud, 30 July 1932]

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. 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. “
“The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.” -Quoted in: Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe, ch. 5 (1979).

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are not even capable of forming such opinions. — Ideas and Opinions

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.

Time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.

~A~
A man’s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem.

After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved, science and art tend to coalesce in esthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists are always artists as well.

All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.
All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike-and yet it is the most precious thing we have.
All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.
An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.
An oligarchy of private capital… cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society (because) under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information.
Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.
Any 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.
Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
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.

~C~
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.
Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.

~E~
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.
Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for insects as well as for the stars. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance.
Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler.
Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

~F~
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
Force always attracts men of low morality.

~G~
Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.

God may be subtle, but he isn’t plain mean.
Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

~H~
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.

I have just got a new theory of eternity.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

I never think of the future — it comes soon enough.

I think that a particle must have a separate reality independent of the measurements. That is an electron has spin, location and so forth even when it is not being measured. I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it.
I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion.
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut.

If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.
If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

It stands to the everlasting credit of science that by acting on the human mind it has overcome man’s insecurity before himself and before nature.
It was the experience of mystery — even if mixed with fear — that engendered religion.
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.

~L~
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.

Long hair minimizes the need for barbers; socks can be done without; one leather jacket solves the coat problem for many years; suspenders are superfluous.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

~M~
Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events.
Morality is of the highest importance — but for us, not for God.
Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
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.

~N~
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.
Nor do I take into account a danger of starting a chain reaction of a scope great enough to destroy part or all of the planet. But it is not necessary to imagine the earth being destroyed like a nova by a stellar explosion to understand vividly the growing scope of atomic war and to recognize that unless another war is prevented it is likely to ring destruction on a scale never before held possible, and even now hardly conceived, and that little civilization would survive it.
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all people are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all people and all countries — not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of humankind as civilized.
Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

~P~
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.
Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions.

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.
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.
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.

~R~
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.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

T~
That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
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.
The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
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 world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there.

To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.

W~

Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.

You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.