The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. Albert Einstein
The only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library. Albert Einstein
The only way to escape the personal corruption of praise is to go on working. Albert Einstein
The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. Albert Einstein, attributions & variations inc Hawking
The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious – the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Albert Einstein, My World-View, 1931
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 February 1921
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. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this. Albert Einstein
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. Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions
There is no salvation for civilisation, or even the human race, other than the creation of a world government. Albert Einstein, cited Lawrence Abbott, World Federalism: What? Why? How? p20
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
The supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. Albert Einstein, viz preface to Planck’s ‘Where is Science Going’; cited Alice Calaprice, editor of The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, often attributed as ‘Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.’
cf.
The supreme task of the physicist is to arrive at those universal elementary laws from which the cosmos can be built up by pure deduction. There is no logical path to these laws; only intuition resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach them. Albert Einstein, cited Principles of Research, 1918
The theoretician is forced, ever more, to allow himself to be directed by purely mathematical, formal points of view in the search for theories, because the physical experience of the experimenter is not capable of leading us up to the regions of the highest abstraction. Albert Einstein, cited Ideas and Opinions, 1954
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. Albert Einstein, attributed
The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe. Albert Einstein, cited New York Times 25th May 1946
The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this. Albert Einstein, letter to Eric Gutkind, January 1954
The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. Albert Einstein
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. Albert Einstein, attributions & variations
This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism ... An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career. Albert Einstein, cited Why Socialism?
This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor ... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how passionately I hate them! Albert Einstein, essay, ‘The World As I See It
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. Albert Einstein
To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself. Albert Einstein
To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. Albert Einstein
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. Albert Einstein, ‘Science, Philosophy and Religion: A Symposium’, 1941
True art is characterised by an irresistible urge in the creative artist. Albert Einstein
Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value. Albert Einstein, cited LIFE 2 Mary 1955
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. Albert Einstein, attributions & variations, cited Frederick S Perls, ‘Ego, Hunger & Aggression’ 1947
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character. Albert Einstein
We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them. Albert Einstein, attributed
What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the world. Albert Einstein, to Ernst Straus
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. Albert Einstein
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. 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
Why do you write to me, ‘God should punish the English’? I have no close connection to either one or the other. I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His non-existence could excuse Him. Albert Einstein, letter to Edgar Meyer January 1915
Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it. Albert Einstein, cited The New York Times 16th February 1931
The physicists who participated in forging the most formidible and dangerous weapon of all time are harrassed by an equal feeling of responsibility not to say guilt. Einstein and the Bomb, Netflix 2024
Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in producing an atomic bomb, I would not have taken part in opening that Pandora’s Box. ibid.
The present state of affairs in Germany is a state of psychic distemper in the masses. ibid.
I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. ibid.
The most beautiful thing you can experience is the mysterious. ibid.
After his speech Einstein sails to the United States. He will never see Europe again. ibid. caption
The Allies enter the race to create the first atomic bomb with the top secret Manhattan Project. ibid.
The war is won. The peace is not. ibid. Einstein
How long shall we tolerate politicians hungry for power trying to gain political advantage in such a way. ibid.