Einstein in His Own Words: 100+ Quotes (Albert Einstein Quotes)

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We shall again spend an enchanting cozy day together. I am so lucky to have found you — a creature who is my equal, and who is as strong and independent as I am. Destiny seems to bear some grudge against the two of us. But this will make things all the more beautiful later on, when all obstacles and worries have been overcome. How delightful it was the last time, when I was allowed to press your dear little person to me the way nature created it, let me tenderly kiss you for that, you dear good soul!

Letter to Marie Winteler: As to whether I will be patient? What other choice do I have with my beloved, naughty little angle? I will be doubly happy when I can press you to my heart again and see your loving eyes. When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again. Is it not a lack of real affection that scares me away again and again from marriage. Is it a fear of the comfortable life, or nice furniture, of dishonor that I burden myself with, or even the fear of becoming a contented bourgeois?

Marriage makes people treat each other as articles of property and no longer as free human beings. One must take what nature gives as one finds it. How wretchedly inadequate is the theoretical physicist as he stands before Nature, and before his students. My scientific work is motivated by an irresistible longing to understand the secrets of nature and by no other feelings. My love for justice and the striving to contribute towards the improvement of human conditions are quite independent from my scientific interests. Look deep into nature , and then you will understand everything better.

On if his life was a success: Neither on my deathbed nor before will I ask myself such a question. Nature is not an engineer or a contractor, and I myself am a part of Nature. 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. 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. A spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.

If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man. See Quote Investigator for the source. 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.

What I see is a certain something, desolate and grey as infinity. I do not believe that the structure of the human brain is to be blamed for the fact that man cannot grasp infinity. 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. Failure and deprivation are the best educators and purifiers. I do not much believe in education.

Each man ought to be his own model, however frightful that may be. The point is to develop the childlike inclination for play and the childlike desire for recognition and to guide the child over to important fields for society; it is that education which in the main is founded upon the desire for successful activity and acknowledgment. The aim of education must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who, however, can see in the service to the community their highest life achievement.

Studying, and striving for truth and beauty in general, is a sphere in which we are allowed to be children throughout life. Never regard your study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn the liberating beauty of the intellect for your own personal joy and for the profit of the community to which your later work will belong. Schools may favor such freedom by encouraging independent thought. I do not carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books. The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.

I believe, indeed, that overemphasis on the purely intellectual attitude, often directed solely to the practical and factual, in our education, has led directly to the impairment of ethical values. Today also there is an urge toward social progress, toward tolerance and freedom of thought, toward a larger political unity… But the students at our universities have ceased as completely as their teachers to embody the hopes and ideals of the people.

The most valuable thing a teacher can impart to children is not knowledge and understanding per se but a longing for knowledge and understanding, and an appreciation for intellectual values, whether they be artistic, scientific, or moral. It is true that my parents were worried because I began to speak relatively late, so much so that they consulted a doctor. In the matter of physics [education], the first lessons should contain nothing but what is experimental and interesting to see.

When I was a little boy my father showed me a small compass, and the enormous impression that it made on me certainly played a role in my life. Part 1 It is not so very important for a person to learn facts.

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For that he does not really need college. He can learn them from books. Part 2 The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts, but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks. Copernicus, through his work and the greatness of his personality, taught man to be modest. Young people especially like to contemplate bold projects. Also, it is natural for a serious young man to envision his desired goals with the greatest possible precision.

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. We will hope that future historians will explain the morbid symptoms of present day society as the childhood ailments of an aspiring humanity, due entirely to the excessive speed at which civilization was advancing. The students at our universities have ceased as completely as their teachers to enshrine the hopes and ideals of the nation.

Numerous are the academic chairs, but rare are wise and noble teachers. Numerous and large are the lecture halls, but far from numerous the young people who genuinely thirst for truth and justice. More education quotes , learning quotes. This delicate little plant [curiosity], aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom.

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

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I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards. I am certain that it is the mystery of not understanding that attracts people; it impresses them with the aura and magnetism of mystery. There is no logical way to the discovery of these elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance. The more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events the firmer becomes his convictions that there is no room left by the side of this ordered regularity for cause of a different nature.

The development of science and of the creative activities of the spirit in general requires still another kind of freedom, which may be characterized as inward freedom. It is this freedom of the spirit which consists in the independence of thought from the restrictions of authoritarian and social prejudices as well as from unphilosophical routinizing and habit in general.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries to comprehend only a little of this mystery every day. People like you and me never grow old. We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born. Without creative personalities able to think and judge independently, the upward development of society is as unthinkable as the development of the individual personality without the nourishing soil of the community.

Suspicion against every kind of authority grew out of this experience, an attitude which has never again left me. Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom. 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. The ordinary objects of human endeavour — property, outward success, luxury — have always seemed to me contemptible. Most people stop looking when they find the proverbial needle in the haystack.

I would continue looking to see if there were other needles. Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value. The example of great and pure individuals in the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Letter to Marie Curie about critics. I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right. I most seriously believe that one does people the best service by giving them some elevating work to do and thus indirectly elevating them.

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while. The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self. On Mahatma Gandhi after his assassination: Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth. 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. A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. 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 never failed in mathematics. Before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus. Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man.

In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive. I am actually glad that neither of you dedicated yourselves to science, because it is a hard thing, full of difficult and futile work. This world is a strange madhouse. Currently, every coachman and every waiter is debating whether relativity theory is correct.

When I have no special problem to occupy my mind, I love to reconstruct proofs of mathematical and physical theorems that have long been known to me. There is no goal in this, merely an opportunity to indulge in the pleasant occupation of thinking. The real goal of my research has always been the simplification and unification of the system of theoretical physics. The progress of science presupposes the possibility of unrestricted communications of all results and judgments — freedom of expression and instruction in all realms of intellectual endeavor.

This evening I sat 2 hours at the window and thought about how the law of interaction of molecular forces could be determined. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. 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. 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. In science, moreover, the work of the individual is so bound up with that of his scientific predecessors and contemporaries that it appears almost as an impersonal product of his generation. It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal. Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief objective of all technological endeavors… in order that the creations of our minds shall be a blessing and not a curse to mankind. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations. Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations.

400 Albert Einstein Quotes That Will Move (And Surprise You)

But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever. I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and the noblest driving force behind scientific research. Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity. 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.

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. 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.

My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. Through the reading of popular scientific books, I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression.

Though I am now an old fogey, I am still hard at work and still refuse to believe that God plays dice. We should take care not to make the intellect our God; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.

To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious. That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty. Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. Only through perils and upheavals can Nations be brought to further developments.

May the present upheavals lead to a better world. I made one great mistake in my life, when I signed the letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made. My pacifism is not based on any intellectual theory but on a deep antipathy to every form of cruelty and hatred. I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war. The goal of pacifism is possible only though a supranational organization.

To stand unconditionally for this cause is the criterion of true pacifism. We must begin to inculcate our children against militarism by educating them in the spirit of pacifism. I would teach peace rather than war. Today, in twelve countries, young men are resisting conscription and refusing military service. They are the pioneers of a warless world. 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. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them! There will be no peace on earth, the wounds inflicted by the war will not heal, until this internationalism is restored. 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 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. I appeal to all men and women, whether they be eminent or humble, to declare that they will refuse to give any further assistance to war or the preparation of war.

I am not only a pacifist, but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace… Is it not better for a man to die for a cause in which he believes, such as peace, than to suffer for a cause in which he does not believe, such as war? 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.

The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life. Fulfillment on the moral and esthetic side is a goal which lies closer to the preoccupations of art than it does to those of science.

In two weeks the sheeplike masses of any country can be worked up by the newspaper into such a state of excited fury that men are prepared to put on uniforms and kill and be killed, for the sake of the sordid ends of a few interested parties. In politics not only are leaders lacking, but the independence of spirit and the sense of justice of the citizen have to a great extent declined. Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.

Force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels. Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. I believe that we have to content ourselves with our imperfect knowledge and understanding and treat values and moral obligations as a purely human problem, the most important of all human problems. It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. Everyone is aware of the difficult and menacing situation in which human society, shrunk into one community with a common fate, finds itself, but only a few act accordingly.

I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed. Morality is of the highest importance — but for us, not for God. The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. We will not change the hearts of other men by mechanisms, but by changing our hearts and speaking bravely… When we are clear in heart and mind — only then — shall we find courage to surmount the fear which haunts the world.

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual. The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. 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. Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.

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. Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure. I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be. Whenever he felt that he had come to the end of the road or faced a difficult challenge in his work, he would take refuge in music and that would solve all his difficulties.

In building a theory, his approach had something in common with that of an artist. He would aim for simplicity and beauty, and beauty for him was, after all, essentially simplicity. He could be downright brutal, but he could show deep compassion for the poor, weak, and persecuted.

He alternated between kind sage and incorrigible mule, an egocentric loner with a sense of responsibility for all of mankind. Jurgen Neffe link to the Amazon author page. Very few were able to grasp his thoughts and fully appreciate the heroic fruits of his years of labor to create a new cosmic order. His quest yearning for harmony and his crusade against any form of authority extended to humankind as a whole, and to the process of cultural progress.

Albert preferred being alone, according to his sister, and he immersed himself for hours in activities that required patience and stamina. Unlike most of his schoolmates, and schoolchildren today for that matter, the young Albert supplemented his education at school with his own self-styled curriculum at home and developed the skills he deemed important. He read and read and read. While the other children his age pursued adventures outdoors, he sough his flow experience in his head.

He rebelled against any kind of authoritarian structure: His opposition to all forms of opportunism was one of the most remarkable of his personality traits. In the spring of , Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University, one of the leading researchers on autism, touched off a media sensation by claiming that Einstein may have been autistic. He sought to find laws of nature that epitomized his ideal of science, a complete, unified description of the world.

He simply cared far more than most of his colleagues that the laws of physics have to explain everything in nature coherently and consistently. The point is that the arts are important enough to have influenced the greatest minds and talents we know. Albert Einstein said that if he were not a physicist, he would probably be a musician. On how he relaxes after work playing his violin: But when I am improvising and it appears that something may come of it, I require the clear constructions of Bach in order to follow through. His cocky contempt for authority led him to question received wisdom in ways that well-trained acolytes in the academy never contemplated.

Walter Isaacson link to the book Einstein: His Life and Universe. Persistence and tenacity were obviously already part of his character. From his youth, Einstein had a habit of spending a lot of time away from his friends, family, and work, to do nothing but think. He would regularly go for long walks, wander off to quiet cabins in the mountains, play his violin, or sail the seas with his wooden boat to find serenity.

He liked to work on puzzles, erect complex structures with his toy building set, play with a steam engine that his uncle gave him, and build houses of cards. Throughout his life, Albert Einstein would retain the intuition and the awe of a child. He was that odd breed, a reverential rebel, and he was guided by a faith, which he wore lightly and with a twinkle in his eye, in a God who would not play dice by allowing things to happen by chance. You are the only sort of man in whose existence I see much hope for in this deplorable world. He simplified his concerns in order to spend his time wisely… This same uncluttered attitude allowed him to speak directly, with unaffected kindness and respect, to every human being he met, child or adult, ignoring externals.

To me, he appears as out of comparison the greatest intellect of this century, and almost certainly the greatest personification of moral experience. He was in many ways different from the rest of the species. No other man contributed so much to the vast expansion of 20th century knowledge. Yet no other man was more modest in the possession of the power that is knowledge, more sure that power without wisdom is deadly. Letters to Solovine, — The Albert Einstein Collection. The Language God Talks. The Pope of Physics. Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids.

A Sense of the Mysterious. The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge. The Scientist as Rebel. For the Thinking Executive: Mysteries from Behind the Former Iron Curtain. The Everything Einstein Book. By the Bomb's Early Light. Hitler's Secret Atomic Bomb. The Joy of Insight: Passions of a Physicist. Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project.

Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century. Einstein in His Own Words.

100 Inspiring Quotes By Albert Einstein To Inspire You To Be Great

In the Shadow of the Bomb. The Wisdom of Science. Under the Spell of Landau. Einstein on the Road. The Big Bang and Auschwitz. My Time with Einstein.

25 Notable Quotes By Max Planck

The World of Andrei Sakharov. Einstein and Twentieth-Century Politics. Einstein in His Own Words: How to write a great review. The review must be at least 50 characters long. The title should be at least 4 characters long. Your display name should be at least 2 characters long. At Kobo, we try to ensure that published reviews do not contain rude or profane language, spoilers, or any of our reviewer's personal information.

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