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.
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?
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.
Life isn’t worth living, unless it is lived for someone else.
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.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.
I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.
Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.
Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.
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.
When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.
I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking
Student: Dr. Einstein, Aren’t these the same questions as last year’s [physics] final exam?Dr. Einstein: Yes; But this year the answers are different.
Even on the most solemn occasions I got away without wearing socks and hid that lack of civilization in high boots
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 most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.
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.
I would not think that philosophy and reason themselves will be man’s guide in the foreseeable future; however, they will remain the most beautiful sanctuary they have always been for the select few.
The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with joy are goodness, beauty, and truth.
Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.
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.
I don’t try to imagine a personal God; it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.
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.
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)
As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.
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.
Combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought.
Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think
Everything has changed. . . except 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
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?
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.
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.
No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right a single experiment can prove me wrong.
A society’s competitive advantage will come not from how well its schools teach the multiplication and periodic tables, but from how well they stimulate imagination and creativity.
The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.
Politics is for the moment and equation is for eternity.
The laws of gravity cannot be held responcible for people falling in love.
If you’ve never done anything wrong it’s probably because you have never tried anything new.
For us physicists believe the separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, although a convincing one.
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.
The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.
If I had known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker.
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 fre
The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.
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.
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.
Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and it’s beauty.
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
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.
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 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.
Do you really believe that the moon isn’t there when nobody looks?
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.
I was very pleased with your kind letter. Until now I never dreamed of being something like a hero. But since you’ve given me the nomination I feel that I am one.
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.
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
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.
One must divide one’s time between politics and equations. But our equations are much more important to me, because politics is for the present, while our equations are for eternity.
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 have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events
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 won’t be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.
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.
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.
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
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
A man’s value to the community depends primarily on how far his feelings, thoughts, and actions are directed towards promoting the good of his fellows.
Nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by the unselfish cooperation of many individuals.
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.
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.
I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
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.
I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I’m doing it myself.
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.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don’t rule out malice.
A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.
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.
The question that sometime’s drive’s me hazy, am i or the other’s crazy?
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.
Intelligent life on other planets? I’m not even sure there is on earth!
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.
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?
Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.
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.
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.
I can’t believe that God plays dice with the universe.
The deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe forms my idea of God.
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.
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.
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.
When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity.
The world is a dangerous place to live – not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.
Only two things are infinite the universe and human stupidity and I’m not sure about the former.
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
E = MC^2: Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.
It is the theory which decided what can be observed.
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.
When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.
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.
If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.
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.
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
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.
Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.
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.
It stands to the everlasting credit of science that by acting on the human mind it has overcome man’s insecurity before himself and before nature.
Occurrences in this domain are beyond the reach of exact prediction because of the variety of factors in operation, not because of any lack of order in nature.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
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.
Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one’s living at it.
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.
The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.
Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish.
Mozart’s music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner beauty of the universe.
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.
True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.
I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
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.
I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world.
I want to know all Gods thoughts all the rest are just details.
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!
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.
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.