Albert Einstein

He was offered the Presidency of Israel but declined, having no political or ceremonial ambitions.

(December 1999) Named Time magazines Person of the Century.

When he left Germany in 1933, the Nazis put a price of 20,000 marks on his head.

Never learned how to drive a car.

Made a telephone call to comedian Sid Caesar , suggesting they meet to discuss the human condition. Unfortunately, the meeting never took place because Caesar thought they would have nothing to talk about.

Was reluctant to sign autographs, and charged people a dollar before signing anything. He gave the dollars he received to charity.

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 (for his discovery of the Photoelectric Effect).

Children with Maric: Lieserl (born January, 1902), Hans Albert (born May 14, 1904), Eduard (born c. 1908).

His second wife was also his cousin.

Became a US citizen in 1940, but retained his Swiss citizenship.

Pictured on the 8 US postage stamp in the original issue of the Prominent Americans series, issued 14 March 1966.

Pictured on a 15 US commemorative postage stamp celebrating the centennial of his birth, issued 4 March 1979.

An element, Einsteinium, is named after him.

Said to be a HUGE fan of the legendary Robert Clampett cartoon series, "Time for Beany" . It is also believed that he once ended a meeting with scientists by saying, "Pardon me, gentlemen, but its Time for Beany!".

After his death, scientists kept his brain preserved and discovered a physical abnormality. His brain is still preserved in laboratories.

After his death, his brain was weighed and found to be 1.5 kg (2.64 lb). It is now preserved in a glass jar in Wichita, KS.

Referenced in the song The Call of the Wild by David Byrne on his 1989 album, "Rei Momo".

Philip Glass created an "opera" in 1976 called "Einstein on the Beach", inspired in part by Einsteins theories.

His wife gave birth to their daughter, Lieserl, in 1902, a year before they married. They never spoke about her after 1903. It is assumed that she was adopted by a friend or family member. Some speculate that she died in 1903 from scarlet fever. Einstein never saw her.

His son Eduard suffered from a severe form of depression.

He had two daughters with his second wife, Ilsa and Margot. He adopted them upon his marriage when they were both around twenty years old.

Cared little for money. He once used a $1500.00 check as a bookmark and then lost the book.

Shares a birthday with Taylor Hanson , Kylie Tyndall , Keaton Tyndall , Quincy Jones , Chris Klein , & Michael Caine

E=mc2 is Einsteins most famous equation, and it establishes a correlation between mass and energy (c is the speed of light) for the first time -- later practically exemplified in the splitting of the atom and the inauguration of the exploration of atomic (nuclear) energy.

Had Asperger Syndrome but wasnt diagnosed until it was discovered by Dr Hans Asperger in the late 1940s.

Is reported to have kept several sets of the same outfit in his closet so that he could simply grab an outfit without having to think about what he wanted to wear. This quirk was later given to two characters played by Jeff Goldblum : Seth Brundle in The Fly and Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park . The same quirk was parodied by Jim Varney s alter ego, Ernest, in a series of films.

Elected to the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007 for his services to science and history (inaugural election). Official induction ceremonies held in May 2008.

In 2000, DC Comics artist Ed McGuiness often used Einsteins formula as his signature, after illustrating a full issue of "Superman: The Man of Steel".

E=MC was also used in the opening sequence for "The Twilight Zone" with the caption, "A dimension of mind.".

His IQ has been estimated as falling in between 160 and 180, which would signify genius intelligence. Einstein himself never took an IQ test.

Was a Vegetarian.

Walter Matthau played Einstein in the film I.Q. even though he was a half-foot taller than the famous scientist.

Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld co-wrote a book, of physics, titled The Evolution of Physics.

Wrote a letter in support of the Scottsboro Nine, a group of young African-American men in Alabama who got convicted of assault and rape in what was widely seen as an unfair trial. H.G. Wells and Thomas Mann also wrote letters in support of the young men.

Considered himself as a loner and had very few friends during his lifetime.

Said to have had parietal lobes 10% larger than would be expected for an average brain.

Steve Martin once wrote a stage play about a hypothetical meeting between Einstein and Picasso.

When told of a book entitled "One Hundred Authors against Einstein", he replied "Why one hundred? If I were wrong, one would have been enough.".

Mentioned in the song "Einstein A Go-Go" by "Landscape".

Devised the theory of relativity.

Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class) in the category Historical Figure.

Was an inventor and called mad in his time even though hes thought of now as one of the greatest scientific minds who ever lived.

He is a a fifth cousin, three times removed, of actor and director Peter Berg. Alberts paternal four times great-grandfather, Moyses Einstein, was also Peters maternal seven times great-grandfather.

He did not want his body or brain to studied or worshipped, he left specific instructions upon his death, he was to be cremated and the ashes to be scattered in secret.

He has an Erds-Bacon-Sabbath number of 11, which ties him with Natalie Portman and Adam Savage, and is among the lowest on the planet.

Doc Brown, the eccentric inventor from the Back to the Future trilogy has a pet dog named after Einstein.

Producer Julian Blaustein cast Sam Jaffee as Professor Barnhardt in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" because of his resemblance to Albert Einstein who, at that time, was the most recognized scientist in the world. For years afterward, Blaustein, and director Robert Wise, would refer to Professor Barnhardt as the "Einstein character.".

Lampooned on the Rick and Morty Show.

[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 secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

I do not much believe in education. Each man ought to be his own model,however frightful that may be.

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own,hearts.

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research,would it?,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.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.

Imagination encircles the world.

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are,permitted to remain children all our lives.

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.

I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and the,noblest driving force behind scientific research.

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the,conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

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.

. but there was some justification: the danger that the Germans would,make them.

[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.

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.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge,is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of,religion.

The important thing is not to stop questioning.

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

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its,limits.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War,IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

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.

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned,in school.

The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax.

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.

The eternal mystery of the universe is its comprehensibility.

Before God, we are equally wise--equally foolish.

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can,be counted counts.

[in 1932] There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will,ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be,shattered at will.

If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an,empty desk a sign?,Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.

When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again.

Love is a better master than duty.

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.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.

We know from daily life that we exist for other people first of all, for whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.

The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.

Dancers are the athletes of God.

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.

You never fail until you stop trying.

I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.

Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.

God is subtle but he is not malicious.

Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.

It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom.

Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

Although I am a typical loner in my daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has prevented me from feelings of isolation.

It occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My discovery was the result of musical perception.

Adversity introduces a man to himself.

Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.

Never memorize something that you can look up.

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

Even on the most solemn occasions I got away without wearing socks and hid that lack of civilization in high boots,An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

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.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling 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.

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

The Revolution introduced me to art, and in turn, art introduced me to the Revolution!,If tomorrow were never to come, it would not be worth living today.

The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with joy are goodness, beauty, and truth.

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.

I believe that Gandhi’s views were the most enlightened of all the political men in our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by non-participation in anything you believe is evil.

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms.

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.

In the view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who says there is no God. But what makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views. (The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University, page 214),Common to all these types is the anthropomorphic character of their conception of God. In general, only individuals of exceptional endowments, and exceptionally high-minded communities, rise to any considerable extent above this level. But there is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it.

Any fool can know. The point is to understand.

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.

Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

If one tries to navigate unknown waters one runs the risk of shipwreck,Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men - above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.

Man is here for the sake of other men - above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.

If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.

From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that we are here for the sake of each other - above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.

In scientific thinking are always present elements of poetry. Science and music requires a thought homogeneous.

I believe in intuitions and inspirations. . . I sometimes FEEL that I am right. I do not KNOW that I am.

Imagination is the highest form of research.

Phantasie ist wichtiger als Wissen, denn Wissen ist begrenzt.

The principal art of the teacher is to awaken the joy in creation and knowledge.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

If there is any religion that could respond to the needs of modern science, it would be Buddhism.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.

It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.

That which is impenetrable to us really exists. Behind the secrets of nature remains something subtle, intangible, and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.

It is this mythical, or rather symbolic, content of the religious traditions which is likely to come into conflict with science. This occurs whenever this religious stock of ideas contains dogmatically fixed statements on subjects which belong in the domain of science.

How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it.

I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.

Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the mentality of the men who, surrounded by a skeptical world, have shown the way to kindred spirits scattered wide through the world and through the centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.

The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice and the desire for personal independence -- these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.

My religiosity consists of a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social enviroment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions. ", 1953),Information is not knowledge.

I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.

As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.

Curiosity is more important than knowledge.

Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.

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,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 everyone, best for both the body and the mind.

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

It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom. Without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail.

Play is the highest form of research.

Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as hard duty. Never regard study as duty but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs.

Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.

It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry.

Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think,Everything has changedexcept the way we think. The aim [of education] must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals, who, however, see in the service of community their highest life problems,But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people--first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy.

Time is an illusion.

Creativity is the residue of time wasted.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space.

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

When I was young I found out that the big toe always ends up making a hole in a sock. So I stopped wearing socks.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?,The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. 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 eac,Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.

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.

God does not play dice with the universe.

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.

One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.

A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.

The human spirit must prevail over technology.

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right a single experiment can prove me wrong.

Something deeply hidden had to be behind things.

The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the descernible laws and connections, 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 fact, religious.

Politics is for the moment and equation is for eternity.

Gandhi, the greatest political genius of our time, has pointed the way. He was shown of what sacrifices people are capable once they have found the right way. His work for the liberation of India is a living testimony to the fact that a will governed by firm conviction is stronger than a seemingly invincible material power.

The laws of gravity cannot be held responcible for people falling in love.

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead and his eyes are dimmed.

… there are no arbitrary constants . . . nature is so constituted that it is possible logically to lay down such strongly determined laws that within these laws only rationally determined constants occur (not constants, therefore, whose numerical value could be changed without destroying the theory).

For us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one.

Concepts that have proven useful in ordering things easily achieve such an authority over us that we forget their earthly origins and accept them as unalterable givens. Thus they come to be stamped as “necessities of thought”, “a priori givens”, etc. The path of scientific advance is often made impassable for a long time through such errors. For that reason, it is by no means an idle game if we become practiced in analyzing the long commonplace concepts and exhibiting those circumstances upon which their justification and usefulness depend, how they have grown up, individually, out of the givens of experience. By this means, their all-too-great authority will be broken. They will be removed if they cannot be properly legitimated, corrected if their correlation with given things be far too superfluous, replaced by others if a new system can be established that we prefer for whatever reason.

How does it happen that a properly endowed natural scientist comes to concern himself with epistemology? Is there no more valuable work in his specialty? I hear many of my colleagues saying, and I sense it from many more, that they feel this way. I cannot share this sentiment. When I think about the ablest students whom I have encountered in my teaching, that is, those who distinguish themselves by their independence of judgment and not merely their quick-wittedness, I can affirm that they had a vigorous interest in epistemology. They happily began discussions about the goals and methods of science, and they showed unequivocally, through their tenacity in defending their views, that the subject seemed important to them. Indeed, one should not be surprised at this.

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive,However rare true love may be, it is less so than true friendship.

I love Humanity but I hate humans,Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of other men —above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received and am still receiving.

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, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

If I had known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker.

The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are the constitutional rights secure.

Honestly, I cannot understand what people mean when they talk about the freedom of the human will. I have a feeling, for instance, that I will something or other; but what relation this has with freedom I cannot understand at all. I feel that I will to light my pipe and I do it; but how can I connect this up with the idea of freedom? What is behind the act of willing to light the pipe? Another act of willing? Schopenhauer once said: Der Mensch kann was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will (Man can do what he will but he cannot will what he wills).

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.

the real purpose of socialism is precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory phase of human development,The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.

Somebody who only reads newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else.

Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.

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,Out of clutter, find simplicity.

Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work.

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?,If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.

I see my life in terms of music.

Life without playing music is inconceivable for me. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music, I get most joy in life out of music.

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.

The mystical trend of our time, which shows itself particularly in the rampant growth of the so-called Theosophy and Spiritualism, is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and confusion. Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning. - Albert Einstein, letter of February 5, 1921,The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

Student is not a container you have to fill but a torch you have to light up.

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

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social enviroment. Most people are incapable of forming such opin,Hope that justice will be done to those brave men who stood up for their convictions.

Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order —in short, of government.

Still there are moments when one feels free from one’s own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments, one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable: life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only being.

You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

The framing of a problem is often far more essential than its solution,Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.

I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I’m doing it myself.

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

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.

The more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events the firmer becomes his conviction that there is no room left by the side of this ordered regularity for causes of a different nature. For him neither the rule of human nor the rule of divine will exist as an independent cause of natural events. To be sure, the doctrine of a personal God interfering with the natural events could never be refuted, in the real sense, by science, for this doctrine can always take refuge in those domains in which scientific knowledge has not yet been able to set foot. But I am persuaded that such behavior on the part of the representatives of religion would not only be unworthy but also fatal. For a doctrine which is able to maintain itself not in clear light but only in the dark, will of necessity lose its effect on mankind, with incalculable harm to human progress. - Science and Religion (1941),The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. These subtilised interpretations are highly manifold according to their nature and have almost nothing to do with the original text. For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions.

No one does anything right in life, until they realize that they are making a mistake,The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.

I gang my own gait and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties I have never lost an obstinate sense of detachment, of the need for solitude — a feeling which increases with the years.

When we first got married, we made a pact. It was this: In our life together, it was decided I would make all of the big decisions and my wife would make all of the little decisions. For fifty years, we have held true to that agreement. I believe that is the reason for the success in our marriage. However, the strange thing is that in fifty years, there hasn’t been one big decision.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

How was I able to live alone before, my little everything? Without you I lack self-confidence, passion for work, and enjoyment of life--in short, without you, my life is no life. [Written to his wife, Mileva],Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.

The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it.

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.

The state exists for man,not man for the state. The same may be said ofscience. These are old phrases,coined by people who saw in human individuality the highest human value . I would hesitate to repeat them,were it not for the ever recurring danger that they may be forgotten,especially in these days of organization and stereotypes.

We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them,The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything except our thinking. Thus, we are drifting toward catastrophe beyond conception. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.

We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.

Humor, motivations, moral,gods,energy,secrecy,All of science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking.

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.

I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.

True human progress is based less on the inventive mind than on the conscience of such men as Brandeis. ~ Albert Einstein,Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters,I received your letter of June 10th. I have never talked to a Jesuit priest in my life and I am astonished by the audacity to tell such lies about me. From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.

I prefer to make up my own quotes and attribute them to very smart people, so that I can use them to win arguments,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. Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment - an attitude that has never again left me. - Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp,Nothing happens until something moves.

The single most important decision any of us will ever make is whether or not to believe the universe is friendly.

Matter tells space how to curve, space tells matter how to move.

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced,The state was made for man, not man for state.

Nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by the unselfish cooperation of many individuals.

A true genius admits that he/she knows nothing.

PARAPHRASE: Genius is not that you are smarter than everyone else. It is that you are ready to receive the inspiration.

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act, and in that action are the seeds of new knowledge.

The most aggravating thing about the younger generation is that I no longer belong to it.

Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.

The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.

But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion. To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations valid for the world of existence are rational, that is, comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Nationalism is an infantile sickness. It is the measles of the human race.

I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part, and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy.

Ego=1/Knowledge" More the knowledge lesser the ego, lesser the knowledge more the ego.

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description.

I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.

Racism is a disease of white people,Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.

Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an “army of unemployed” almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers’ goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals which I mentioned before.

This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.

For an idea that does not first seem insane, there is no hope.

I do not believe in the immortality of the individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern without any superhuman authority behind it.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.

Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.

The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

There is no substitute for hard work.

I am not a genius, I am just curious. I ask many questions. and when the answer is simple, then God is answering.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

The release of atomic 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. (1945),The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.

The only thing you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.

The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library,I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.

Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity I do not understand it myself any more.

[The golden proportion] is a scale of proportions which makes the bad difficult [to produce] and the good easy.

When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.

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.

Success = 1 part work + 1 part play + 1 part keep your mouth shut,To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.

If I can’t picture it, I can’t understand it.

I think and think for months for years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.

Reading after a certain (time) 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.

Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.

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

God is clever but not dishonest.

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 that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.

E = MC^2: Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.

It is the theory which decided what can be observed.

Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours of other men living and dead and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received.

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Most people go on living their everyday life: frightened half indifferent they behold the ghostly tragi-comedy that has been performed on the international stage before the eyes and ears of the world.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

We should take care not to make the intellect our god it has of course powerful muscles but no personality.

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

Look deep deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.

It is the theory that decides what can be observed.

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.

Science without religion is lame religion without science is blind.

Science is the attempt to make the chaotic diversity of our sense-experience correspond to a logically uniform system of thought.

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right a single experiment can prove me wrong.

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right,Everything should be made as simple as possible . . . but not simpler.

I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone best both for the body and the mind.

A successful man is he who receives a great deal from his fellow men usually incomparably more than corresponds to his service to them. The value of a man however should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

Try not to become a man of success but rather a man of value.

A successful man is he who receives a great deal from his fellow men usually incomparably more than corresponds to his service to them. The value of a man however should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.

I think and think for months for years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

If you are out to describe the truth leave elegance to the tailor.

How do I work? I grope.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

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.

It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.

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.

I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

Love is a better teacher than duty.

Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.

A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.

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.

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.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

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

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right a single experiment can prove me wrong.

Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.

The man of science is a poor philosopher.

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.

Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.

One strength of the communist system of the East is that it has some of the character of a religion and inspires the emotions of a religion.

Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.

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.

Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age.

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?,The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

I am a deeply religious nonbeliever - this is a somewhat new kind of religion.

Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not for God.

It was the experience of mystery - even if mixed with fear - that engendered religion.

I have just got a new theory of eternity.

I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.

Force always attracts men of low morality.

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 unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while.

When the solution is simple, God is answering.

I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world.

God does not play dice.

I want to know all Gods thoughts all the rest are just details.

The only source of knowledge is experience.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

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

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

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

The devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat.

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!,God always takes the simplest way.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.

True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist.

Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity.

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

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

The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax.

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.

Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

Peace cannot be kept by force it can only be achieved by understanding.

Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.

The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

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

Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.

It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.

The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. .