Quotes and thoughts by Albert Einstein, aphorisms, ideas and wise criticisms that demonstrate the greatness and humanity of this scientist and philosopher.
Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.
Albert Einstein
A human being is part of the whole we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He is convinced that he himself, his thoughts and feelings, are something independent of others, a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. That illusion is a prison for us, limiting them to our personal desires and affection for the few closest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from that prison, widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.
Albert Einstein
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.
Albert Einstein
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
Albert Einstein
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
As long as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as long as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.
Albert Einstein
As long as there are men, there will be wars.
Albert Einstein
Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Albert Einstein
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
Albert Einstein
Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
Albert Einstein
Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
Albert Einstein
Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity.
Albert Einstein
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Albert Einstein
God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.
Albert Einstein
God is subtle but he is not malicious.
Albert Einstein
Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.
Albert Einstein
Great minds have always encountered violent opposition from mediocrities, who cannot understand the man who rejects inherited prejudices, but uses his intelligence with honesty and courage.
Albert Einstein
Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.
Albert Einstein
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.
Albert Einstein
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them!
Albert Einstein
Human ethical conduct must be truly based on compassion, education, and social bonds, without recourse to any religious principle. Men would be pitiable if they were held back by the fear of punishment or the hope of reward after death.
Albert Einstein
I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.
Albert Einstein
I do not believe in a personal God and I have never hidden this belief of mine, on the contrary I have expressed it clearly. If there is anything in me that can be defined as a religious feeling, it is precisely that boundless admiration for the structure of the world within the limits in which science can reveal it to us.
Albert Einstein
I don’t believe at all in human freedom in the philosophical sense of the word. Everyone acts not only under the impulse of an external imperative, but also according to an internal necessity.
Albert Einstein
I prefer an attitude of humility that corresponds to the weakness of our intellectual capacity to understand the nature of our being.
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 live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.
Albert Einstein
I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
Albert Einstein
I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.
Albert Einstein
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.
Albert Einstein
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.
Albert Einstein
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Albert Einstein
In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep.
Albert Einstein
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
Albert Einstein
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein
Life is not worth living unless it is lived for someone else.
Albert Einstein
Mystery is the most beautiful thing we can experience. It is the source of all true art and science.
Albert Einstein
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.
Albert Einstein
Never consider study as an obligation, but as an opportunity to delve into the beautiful and wonderful world of knowledge.
Albert Einstein
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?
Albert Einstein
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. (Sign hanging in Einstein’s office at Princeton)
Albert Einstein
One day machines will be able to solve all problems, but none of them will ever be able to pose a problem.
Albert Einstein
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
Albert Einstein
Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one’s living at it.
Albert Einstein
Science will stagnate if it is made to serve practical goals.
Albert Einstein
Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.
Albert Einstein
Science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.
Albert Einstein
Science is the attempt to reconcile the chaotic diversity of our sensory experience with a logically uniform system of thought.
Albert Einstein
Schopenhauer’s aphorism, “It is true that a man can do what he wants, but he can only want what he wants,” has deeply impressed me since my youth; in the whirlwind of events and trials imposed by life’s harshness, those words have always been a comfort to me and an inexhaustible source of tolerance. Awareness of this helps soften the sense of responsibility that easily mortifies us and prevents us from taking ourselves and others too seriously; it leads us to a view of life that leaves a singular place for humor.
Albert Einstein
Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.
Albert Einstein
Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.
Albert Einstein
The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.
Albert Einstein
The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.
Albert Einstein
The gift of imagination has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
Albert Einstein
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
Albert Einstein
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
Albert Einstein
The important thing is to not stop questioning.
Albert Einstein
The intelligent man solves problems. The wise man avoids them. The stupid man creates them. And if the world is full of problems, there must be a reason.
Albert Einstein
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.
Albert Einstein
The only real valuable thing is intuition.
Albert Einstein
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.
Albert Einstein
The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
Albert Einstein
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
Albert Einstein
The thing about smart people is they sound like crazy people to stupid people.
Albert Einstein
The situation of us mortals is truly singular. Each of us is on this earth for a brief visit; we don’t know why, but very often we believe we understand. We don’t reflect deeply and limit ourselves to considering one aspect of daily life; we are here for other men: first of all for those on whose smiles and well-being our happiness depends, but also for that multitude of strangers to whose fate a bond of sympathy binds us. This is my constant daily thought: external and internal life depends on the work of contemporaries and that of predecessors; I must strive to give them, in equal measure, what I have received and what I still receive. I feel the need to lead a simple life and am often painfully aware that I ask more of the activity of my fellow men than is necessary. I realize that social class differences are unjustified and that, ultimately, they have their foundation in violence; but I also believe that a modest life is suitable for everyone, for body and spirit.
Albert Einstein
The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.
Albert Einstein
The mystical beliefs of our time, manifested in the growing wave of what is known as philosophy and spiritualism, are to me nothing more than a symptom of weakness and confusion.
Albert Einstein
The most precious things in life are not those that money can buy.
Albert Einstein
Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed.
Albert Einstein
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.
Albert Einstein
Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
Albert Einstein
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.
Albert Einstein
War is not a parlor game in which everyone plays by the rules. When life and death are at stake, rules and obligations go out the window. Only a total rejection of war can be of any use.
Albert Einstein
What is the meaning of our existence, what is the significance of the existence of all living beings in general? Knowing how to answer such a question means having religious sentiments. You will say: but does it make sense to ask this question? I answer you: anyone who believes that his own life and that of his fellow men is meaningless is not only unhappy, but barely capable of living.
Albert Einstein
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
Albert Einstein
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
Albert Einstein
Without “ethical culture”, there is no salvation for humanity.
Albert Einstein
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.
Albert Einstein
