Albert Einstein Quotes

"It is best, it seems to me, to separate one's inner striving from one's
trade as far as possible. It is not good when one's daily break is tied to
God's special blessing." -- Albert Einstein
"It may affront the military-minded person to suggest a reqime that
does not maintain any military secrets." -- Albert Einstein
"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." -- Albert
Einstein
"So long as they don't get violent, I want to let everyone say what they
wish, for I myself have always said exactly what pleased me." -- Albert
Einstein
"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a
hard duty." -- Albert Einstein
"Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love." -- Albert
Einstein
Thanks to Rick Burress <rburress@home.com>
"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes.
When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours
that's relativity." -- Albert Einstein
Thanks to Glen E Kelly <kelly@jetlink.net>
"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned
my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, scince for
him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization
should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless
brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all
this, how despiceable an ignoreable 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." -- Albert
Einstein
Thanks to Alexander Elsing <else@neuss.netsurf.de>
"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."--Albert Einstein
Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing. -- Albert
Einstein
"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research,
would it?"
- Albert Einstein
"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age
eighteen."
- Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio, replied:
"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."
God doesn't play dice.
-- Albert Einstein
God may be subtle, but He isn't plain mean. -- 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." -- Albert Einstein
If A equals success, then the formula is _ A = _ X + _ Y + _ Z. _ X is
work. _ Y is play. _ Z is keep your mouth shut. -- Albert Einstein
"If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith."
-- Albert Einstein
Man usually avoids attributing cleverness to somebody else
-- unless it is an enemy.
-- Albert Einstein
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax. --
Albert Einstein
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." --Albert
Einstein
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." --Albert Einstein
"I never think of the future. It comes soon enough." --Albert Einstein
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm
not sure about the former." --Albert Einstein
"Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish." --Albert
Einstein (1879-1955)
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all
comprehensible." --Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has
merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one."
--Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." --Albert
Einstein (1879-1955)
"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." --A. Einstein
"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." --Einstein, Albert
"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." --Einstein, Albert
"What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the
creation of the world." --Albert Einstein
"If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants." --Albert
Einstein
Through the release of atomic energy, our generation has brought into
the world the most revolutionary force since prehistoric man's
discovery of fire. This basic force of the universe cannot be fitted into
the outmoded concept of narrow nationalisms.
For there is no secret and there is no defense; there is no possibility of
control except through the aroused understanding and insistence of
the peoples of the world. We scientists recognise our inescapable
responsibility to carry to our fellow citizens an understanding of atomic
energy and its implication for society. In this lies our only security and
our only hope - we believe that an informed citizenry will act for life
and not for death.
A. Einstein, 1947 d.C.
If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.

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.
Albert Einstein

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

Albert Einstein

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you

mine are still greater.
Albert Einstein

Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms
of science. Truth is what stands the test of experience.
Albert Einstein

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.
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.
Albert Einstein

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

Albert Einstein

If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith.

Albert Einstein

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

Imagination is more important than knowledge...

Albert Einstein

"When a blind beetle crawls over the surface

of the globe,
he doesn't realize that the track he has
covered is curved.
I was lucky enough to have spotted it."

"I have no particular talent. I am merely

inquisitive."

"It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I

stay with problems longer ."

Nothing that I can do will change the

structure of the universe.
But maybe, by raising my voice, I can help in
the greatest of all causes
-- goodwill among men and peace on earth.

Imagination is more important than

knowledge.
Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles
the world."

"If I had my life to live over again, I'd be a

plumber."

"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 get most joy in life out of
music."

"The release of atom power has changed

 everything except our way of thinking...
the solution to this problem lies in the heart
of mankind.
If only I had known, I should have become a
watchmaker."

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

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

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

"The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me

with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth.
To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me;
a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd
of cattle."

"A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer
life are based on the labors of others ."

"I want to know God's thoughts,..... the rest are details.."

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

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you
mine are far greater."

"Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the
moral universe within."

"My life is a simple thing that would interest no one.

It is a known fact that I was born and that is all that is necessary."

"As far as I'm concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue."

"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 my talent for
absorbing positive knowledge."
On The Universe

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human

stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is

that it is comprehensible."

""A human being is part of the 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
nature in its
beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the
striving for such
achievement is in itself a part of the liberation, and a
foundation for inner
securit"

"Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him
best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world;
he then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of
his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it.
This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative
philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own
fashion.
Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of
his emotional life,
in order to find in this way peace and security which he can
not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience."

On Education

"Never regard study as a 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."

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not

everything that can be counted counts."

"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived

as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty ."

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become

a man of value."

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in

creative expression and knowledge."

"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.
Such a school demands from the teacher that he be a kind
of artist in his province."

"To me the worst thing seems to be a school principally to

work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority.
Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the
sincerity and the self-confidence of pupils
and produces a subservient subject."

"One should guard against preaching to young people

success in the customary form as the main aim in life.
The most important motive for work in school and in life is
pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge
of the value of the result to the community."

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field

of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of
the Gods."

The example of great and pure individuals is the only thing

that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds.

"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."

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your

sources."

"The only source of knowledge is experience"

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is

a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant and has
forgotten the gift."

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

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity

has its own reason for existing.
One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the
mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of
reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of
this mystery every day.
Never lose a holy curiosity."

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from

mediocre minds.
The latter cannot understand it when a man does not
thoughtlessly
submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and
courageously uses his intelligence."

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field

of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of
the Gods."

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he

learned in school."

On Life

"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."
"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."

"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in

which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."

"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does
a man need to be happy."

"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 are based on the labors of others."

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the

mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and 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."

"Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling

in love"

"Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most

beautiful gift."

"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for
nothing."

"The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery.

There comes a leap in consciousness, call it Intuition or
what you will, the solution comes to you and you don't
know how or why".

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the

income tax."

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by

age 18.

"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with
their own hearts."
"If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the
tailor."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried

anything new."

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A=X+Y+Z. X is

work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."

"Perfection of means and confusion of ends seem to

characterize our age."

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't

happen at once."

"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."

"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."

"(1) Those instrumental goods which should serve to

maintain the life and health of all human beings should be
produced by the least possible labour of all.
(2) The satisfaction of physical needs is indeed the
indespensible precondition of a satisfactory existence, but
in itself is not enough. In order to be content men must
also have the possibility of developing their intellectual and
artistic powers to whatever extent accord with their
personal characteristics and abilities."

Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere

sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion
toward men and toward objective things.

"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."

"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."

How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of

chemistry and physics so important a biological
phenomenon as first love?"
"Gravitation can not be held responsible for people falling
in love"

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems

like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for
an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT'S relativity."

"...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."

"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."

"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."

"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."

"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for
nothing."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried

anything new."

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not

simpler."

"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 whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of

everyday thinking."
On Religion

"God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He

integrates empirically."

"Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of

means and ends. But mere thinking cannot give us a sense
of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clear these
fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in
the emotional life of the individual, seems to me precisely
the most important function which religion has to form in
the social life of man."

"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."

"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same

tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling
man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical
existence and leading the individual towards freedom."

"The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools

and press, usually the Church as
well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway
the emotions of the masses, and
make its tool of them."
[Albert Einstein, letter to Sigmund Freud, 30 July 1932]

"True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with
all one's goodness and
righteousness."

"When the solution is simple, God is answering."

"The most important function of art and science is to

Awaken the cosmic religious feeling and keep it alive."

"I maintain that cosmic religiousness is the strongest and

most noble driving force of scientific
research."

"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."
[Albert Einstein, obituary in New York Times, 19 April 1955]

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The

religion which based on experience,
which refuses dogmatic. If there's any religion that would
cope the scientific needs it will be
Buddhism...."

"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."

"The highest principles for our aspirations and judgements

are given to us in the
Jewish-Christian religious tradition. It is a very high goal
which, with our weak powers, we
can reach only very inadequately, but which gives a sure
foundation to our aspir ations and
valuations. If one were to take that goal out of out of its
religious form and look merely at its
purely human side, one might state it perhaps thus: free
and responsible development of the
individual, so that he may place his powers freely and
gladly in the service of all mankind. ... it
is only to the individual that a soul is given. And the high
destiny of the individual is to serve
rather than to rule, or to impose himself in any otherway."

"Scientific research is based on the idea that everything

that takes place is determined by laws
of nature, and therefore this holds for the action of people.
For this reason, a research scientist
will hardly be inclined to believe that events could be
influenced by a prayer, i.e. by a wish
addressed to a Supernatural Being."
[Albert Einstein, 1936, responding to a child who wrote and
asked if scientists pray. Source:
"Albert Einstein: The Human Side", Edited by Helen Dukas
and Banesh Hoffmann
"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on
sympathy, education, and social ties
and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would
indeed be in a poor way if he had to be
restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after
death."
[Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science", New York Times
Magazine, 9 November 1930]

"The 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."

"Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to

what should be. If one asks the
whence derives the authority of fundamental ends, since
they cannot be stated and justifed
merely by reason, one can only answer: they exist in a
healthy society as powerful traditions,
which act upon the conduct and aspirations and
judgements of the individuals; they are there,
that is, as something living, without its being necessary to
find justification for their existence.
They come into being not through demonstration but
through revelation, through the
medium of powerful personalities. One must not attempt to
justify them, but rather to sense
their nature simply and clearly."

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field

of truth and knowledge is
shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods."

"It is only to the individual that a soul is given."

"In the temple of science are many mansions, and various

indeed are they that dwell therein
and the motives that have led them hither. Many take to
science out of a joyful sense of
superior intellectual power; science is their own special
sport to which they look for vivid
experience and the satisfaction of ambition; many others
are to be found in the temple who
have offered the products of their brains on this altar for
purely utilitarian purposes. Were an
angel of the Lord to come and drive all the people
belonging to these two categories out of the
temple, the assemblage would be seriously depleted, but
there would still be some men, of both
present and past times, left inside"

"In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep,

one must above all be a sheep
oneself."

"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same

tree. All these aspirations are
directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the
sphere of mere physical existence and
leading the individual towards freedom."

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on

sympathy, education, and social ties
and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would
indeed be in a poor way if he had to be
restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after
death."
[Albert Einstein, "Religion and Science", New York Times
Magazine, 9 November 1930]

"The 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."

"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."
[Albert Einstein, 1954, from "Albert Einstein: The Human
Side", edited by Helen Dukas and
Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press]

"I am convinced that some political and social activities

and practices of the Catholic
organizations are detrimental and even dangerous for the
community as a whole, here and
everywhere. I mention here only the fight against birth
control at a time when overpopulation
in various countries has become a serious threat to the
health of people and a grave obstacle to
any attempt to organize peace on this planet."
[ letter, 1954]

"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."

"What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we

can comprehend only very
imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a
feeling of "humility." This is a
genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with
mysticism"

"The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic

emotion. Herein lies the germ of all
art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is
alien, who is no longer capable of
wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To
know that what is impenatrable for
us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom
and the most radiant beauty, whose
gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this
knowledge, this feeling ... that is
the core of the true religious sent iment. In this sense, and
in this sense alone, I rank myself
amoung profoundly religious men."

"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."
"Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of
means and ends. But mere thinking
cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental
ends. To make clear these fundamental
ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional
life of the i ndividual, seems to me
precisely the most important function which religion has to
form in the social life of man."

"All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same

tree. All these aspirations are
directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the
sphere of mere physical existence and leading the
individual towards freedom."

"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 behaviour 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 .... If it is one of the
goals of religions to liberate
maknind as far as possible from the bondage of egocentric
cravings, desires, and fears, s
cientific reasoning can aid religion in another sense.
Although it is true that it is the goal of
science to discover (the) rules which permit the association
and foretelling of facts, this is not
its only aim. It also seeks to reduce the connections
discovered to the smallest possible number
of mutually independent conceptual elements. It is in this
striving after the rational
unification of the manifold that it encounters its greatest
successes, even though it is precisely
this attempt which causes it to run the greatest risk of
falling a prey to illusion. But whoever
has undergone the intense experience of successful
advances made in this domain, is moved by
the profound reverence for the rationality made manifest
in existence. By way of the
understanding he achieves a far reaching emancipation
from the shackles of personal hopes
and desires, and thereby attains that humble attitude of
mind toward the grandeur of reason,
incarnate in existence, and which, in its profoundest
depths, is inaccessible to man. This
attitude, however, appears to me to be religious in the
highest sense of the word. And so it
seems to me that science not only purifies the religious
imulse of the dross of its
anthropomorphism but also contibutes to a religious
spiritualisation of our understanding of
life."
[Albert Einstein, "Science, Philosophy, and Religion, A
Symposium", published by the
Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in Their
Relation to the Democratic Way of
Life, Inc., New York, 1941]

"I cannot believe that God would choose to play dice with
the universe." or sometimes quoted
as "God does not play dice with the universe."

"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly

influence the actions of individuals,
or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own
creation. I cannot do this in spite of
the fact that mechanistic causality has, to a certain extent,
b een placed in doubt by modern
science. [He was speaking of Quantum Mechanics and the
breaking down of determinism.] My
religiosity consists in a humble admiratation of the
infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself
in the little that we, with our we ak and transitory
understanding, can comprehend of reality.
Morality is of the highest importance -- but for us, not for
God."
[Albert Einstein, from "Albert Einstein: The Human Side",
 edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh
Hoffman, Princeton University Press]

"If the possibility of the spiritual development of all

individuals is to be secured, a second kind of outward
freedom is necessary. The development of science and of
the creative activities of the spirit in general requires still
another kind of freedom, which may be characterised as
inward freedom. It is this freedom of the spirit which
consists in the interdependence of thought from the
restrictions of authoritarian and social prejudices as well as
from unphilosophical routinizing and habit in general. This
inward freedom is an infrequent gift of nature and a worthy
object for the individual."

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science

is blind."

On War and Peace

"An empty stomach is not a good political advisor."

"Nationalism is an infantile sickness. It is the measles of

the human race."

"We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if

mankind is to survive."

Violence sometimes may have cleared away obstructions

quickly, but it never has proved itself creative.

"Why does this 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."

"The discovery of nuclear chain reactions need not bring

about the destruction of mankind
any more than did the discovery of matches. We only must
do everything in our power to
safeguard against its abuse. Only a supranational
organization, equipped with a sufficiently
strong executive power, can protect us." (1953)

"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."

"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 fully suffice. This
disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once.
Heroism at command, senseless
brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, 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 Prayer for Understanding

Oh, great Father, never let me judge another man until
I have walked in his moccasins for two weeks.
Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be kept by
understanding. ...[Notes on pacifism]

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be

attained through understanding."

"Mankind's desire for peace can be realized

only by the creation of a world government."

"Every thoughtful, well-meaning and conscientious human

being
should assume in time of peace,
the solemn and unconditional obligation
not to participate in any war, for any reason
or to lend support of any kind, whether direct or indirect."

"The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything

save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift toward
unparalleled catastrophe."

"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a

pathological criminal."
"Since I do not foresee that atomic energy is to be a great
boon for a long time, I have to say that for the present it is
a menace. Perhaps it is well that it should be. It many
intimidate the human race into bringing order into it's
international affairs, which without the pressure of fear, it
would not do."

"But could not our situation be compared to one of a

menacing epidemic? People are unable to view this
situation in its true light, for their eyes are blinded by
passion. General fear and anxiety create hatred and
aggressiveness. The adaptation to warlike aims and
activities has corrupted the mentality of man; as a result,
intelligent, objective and humane thinking has hardly any
effect and is even suspected and persecuted as
unpatriotic." ..Einstein "The Menace of Mass Destruction"

"In our time the military mentality is still more dangerous

than formerly because the offensive weapons have
become much more powerful than the defensive ones.
Therefore, it leads, by necessity, to preventive war. The
general insecurity that goes hand in hand with this results
in the sacrifice of the citizen's civil rights to the supposed
welfare of the state. Political witch-hunting, controls of all
sorts (e.g., control of teaching and research, of the press,
and so forth) appear inevitable, and for this reason do not
encounter that popular resistance, which, were it not for
the military mentality, would provide protection. A
reappraisal of all values gradually takes place insofar as
everything that does not clearly serve the utopian ends is
regarded and treated as inferior."...Einstein "The Military
Mentality"

"Force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it

to be an invariable rule that
tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels."

As long as armies exist, any serious conflict will lead to

war.

It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human

factors are held essential, while the human being, his
desires and thoughts, are considered as unimportant and
secondary.
You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

To concentrate on the problems and aspirations which all

thinking men share creates a sense of comradeship that is
eventually bound to reunite scholars and artists of all
nations.

Warfare cannot be humanized. It can only be abolished.

"The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse

military service."

A large part of history is replete with the struggle for

human rights, an eternal struggle in which final vistory can
never be won. But to tire in that struggle would mean the
ruin of society.

Only understanding for our neighbors, justice in our

dealings, and willingness to help our fellow men can give
human society permanence and assure security for the
individual.

We scientists, whose tragic destination has been to help in

making the methods of annihilation more gruesome and
more effective, must consider it our solemn and
transcendent duty to do all in our power in preventing
these weapons from being used for the brutal purpose for
which they were invented. What task could possibly be
more important to us? What social aim could be closer to
our hearts?
Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust; we all dance to
a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisable
piper.

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the

same level of
thinking we were at when we created them."

"Nor do I take into account a danger of starting a chain

reaction of a scope great enough to
destroy part or all of the planet...But it is not necessary to
imagine the earth being destroyed like a nova by a stellar
explosion to understand vividly the grow ing scope of
atomic war and to recognize that unless another war is
prevented it is likely to bring destruction on a scale never
 before held possible, and even now hardly conceived, and
that little civilization would survive it." (1947)

"The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is

easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil
spirit of man."

"Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and

tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions."

"Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the

loathsome nonsense that goes by the
name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!"

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

"One does not make wars less likely by formulationg rules

of warfare...
war cannot be humanized. It can only be eliminated..."

When Einstein died on April 18, 1955 he left a piece of writing ending
in an unfinished sentence. There were his last words:

In essence, the conflict that exists today is no more than

an old-style struggle for power, once again presented to
mankind in semireligious trappings. The difference is that,
this time, the development of atomic power has imbued
the struggle with a ghostly character; for both parties know
and admit that, should the quarrel deteriorate into actual
war, mankind is doomed. Despite this knowledge,
statesmen in responsible positions on both sides continue
to employ the well-known technique of seeking to
intimidate and demoralize the opponent by marshaling
superior military strength. They do so even though such a
policy entails the risk of war and doom. Not one statesman
in a position of responsibility has dared to pursue the only
course that holds out any promise of peace, the course of
supranational security, since for a statesman to follow such
a course would be tantamount to political suicide. Political
passions, once they have been fanned into flame, exact
their victims ... Citater fra...
Collected Quotes from Albert
Einstein---unverified
• "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)