Quotes from Albert Einstein
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by
age eighteen
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it
is comprehensible.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition
from mediocre minds.
I want to know God's thoughts, the rest are details.
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with
their own hearts.
The hardest thing in the world to understand, is the income
tax.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Science without religion is lame. Religion without science
is blind.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried
anything new.
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by
understanding.
In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep
one must, above all, be a sheep.
No, this trick won't work..How on earth are you ever going
to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important biological phenomenon
as first love ?
Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances
for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolutioN to a vegetarian diet
When the solution is simple, God is answering.
God does not play dice with the universe.
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your
sources.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the
mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
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.
I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.
The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem.
It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.
Before God we are equally wise - and equally foolish.
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it
is comprehensible.
How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those
who are wise and of good will.
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.
Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can
assure you mine are still greater.
There are only two truly infinite things, the universe and
stupidity. And I am unsure about the universe.
Things should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Science is a refinement of everyday thinking.
 | "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."
|
| "Imagination is more
important than knowledge." |
| "Gravitation is not
responsible for people falling in love." |
| "I want to know God's
thoughts; the rest are details." |
| "The hardest thing in the
world to understand is the income tax." |
| "Reality is merely an
illusion, albeit a very persistent one." |
| "The only real valuable
thing is intuition." |
| "A person starts to live
when he can live outside himself." |
| "I am convinced that He
(God) does not play dice." |
| "God is subtle but he is
not malicious." |
| "Weakness of attitude
becomes weakness of character." |
| "I never think of the
future. It comes soon enough." |
| "The eternal mystery of
the world is its comprehensibility." |
| "Sometimes one pays most
for the things one gets for nothing." |
| "Science without religion
is lame. Religion without science is blind." |
| "Anyone who has never
made a mistake has never tried anything new." |
| "Great spirits have often
encountered violent opposition from weak minds." |
| "Everything should be
made as simple as possible, but not simpler." |
| "Common sense is the
collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." |
| "Science is a wonderful
thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it." |
| "The secret to creativity
is knowing how to hide your sources." |
| "The only thing that
interferes with my learning is my education." |
| "God does not care about
our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically." |
| "The whole of science is
nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." |
| "Technological progress
is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal." |
| "Peace cannot be kept by
force. It can only be achieved by understanding." |
| "The most
incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." |
| "We can't solve problems
by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." |
| "Education is what
remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." |
| "The important thing is
not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." |
| "Do not worry about your
difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater." |
| "Equations are more
important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is
something for eternity." |
| "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." |
| "Two things are infinite:
the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the
universe." |
| "As far as the laws of
mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are
certain, they do not refer to reality." |
| "Whoever undertakes to
set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the
laughter of the gods." |
| "I know not with what
weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with
sticks and stones." |
| "In order to form an
immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep." |
| "The fear of death is the
most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone
who's dead." |
| "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." |
| "Heroism on command,
senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of
patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!" |
| "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?" |
| "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." |
| "Yes, we have to divide
up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our
equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present
concern. A mathematical equation stands forever." |
| "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." |
| "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." |
| "The most beautiful thing
we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and
all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause
to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are
closed." |
| "A man's ethical behavior
should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no
religious basis is necessary. Man would indeeded be in a poor way if he had
to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." |
| "The further the
spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me
that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life,
and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational
knowledge." |
| "Now he has departed from
this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us,
who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and
future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." |
| "You see, wire telegraph
is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his
head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates
exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The
only difference is that there is no cat." |
| "One had to cram all this
stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not.
This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the
final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems
distasteful to me for an entire year." |
| "...one of the strongest
motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with
its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own
ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the
personal life into the world of objective perception and thought." |
| "He who joyfully marches
to music 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.
This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at
command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I
would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my
conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of
murder." |
| "A human being is a part
of a whole, called by us _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 to us. Our task must be to free
ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace
all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." |
| "Not everything that
counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."
(Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton) |
