Quotes by Albert Einstein
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Formerly, people thought that if matter disappeared from the universe, space and time would remain. Relativity declares that space and time would disappear with matter.

Time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.

The harmony of natural law reveals an Intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.

Body and soul are not two different things, but only two different ways of perceiving the same thing. Similarly, physics and psychology are only different attempts to link our experiences together by way of systematic thought.

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.

The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses.

God reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists.

The Press, which is mostly controlled by vested interests, has an excessive influence on public opinion.

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

True knowledge comes with deep understanding of a topic and its inner workings.

Beyond the realms of what we see, into the regions or the unexplored limited only by our imaginations.

It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human factors ... are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thoughts-in short, the psychological factors-are considered as unimportant and secondary.

Creativity is the residue of time wasted.

From a certain temperature on, the molecules 'condense' without attractive forces; that is, they accumulate at zero velocity. The theory is pretty, but is there some truth in it.

Strenuous intellectual work and the study of God's Nature are the angels that will lead me through all the troubles of this life with consolation, strength, and uncompromising rigor.

An attempt at visualizing the Fourth Dimension: Take a point, stretch it into a line, curl it into a circle, twist it into a sphere, and punch through the sphere.

Life is a great tapestry. The individual is only an insignificant thread in an immense and miraculous pattern.

I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws.

We must learn the difficult lesson that the future of Mankind will only be tolerable when our course, in world affairs as in others, is based upon justice and law rather than the threat of naked power.

The led must not be compelled; they must be able to choose their own leader.

As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable.

The trouble with the younger generation is that they don't stay young for very long.

Although words exist for the most part for the transmission of ideas, there are some which produce such violent disturbance in our feelings that the role they play in the transmission of ideas is lost in the background.

There's no question dolphins are smarter than humans as they play more.

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.

The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks.

If quantum theory is correct, it signifies the end of physics as a science.

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.

Humiliation and mental oppression by ignorant and selfish teachers wreak havoc in the youthful mind that can never be undone and often exert a baleful influence in later life.

A life directed chiefly toward the fulfillment of personal desires will sooner or later always lead to bitter disappointment.

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life. All that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.

Nature shows us only the tail of the lion. But there is no doubt in my mind that the lion belongs with it even if he cannot reveal himself to the eye all at once because of his huge dimension.

Man, surrounded by facts, permitting himself no surprise, no intuitive flash, no great hypothesis, no risk, is in a locked cell. Ignorance cannot seal the mind and imagination more securely.

Man owes his strength in the struggle for existence to the fact that he is a social animal.

Please explain the problem to me slowly, as I do not understand things quickly.

To get to know a country, you must have direct contact with the earth. It's futile to gaze at the world through a car window.

Long hair minimizes the need for barbers; socks can be done without; one leather jacket solves the coat problem for many years; suspenders are superfluous.

I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs.

When I study philosophical works I feel I am swallowing something which I don't have in my mouth.

The truth of a theory can never be proven, for one never knows if future experience will contradict its conclusions.

One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one's greatest efforts.

The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts.

I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple.

The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill.

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

Something deeply hidden had to be behind things.

Racism is America's greatest disease, racism is a disease of the white man.

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.

It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.

Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

Imagination encircles the world.

Overpopulation in various countries has become a serious threat to the health of people and a grave obstacle to any attempt to organise peace on this planet.

The value of a man resides in what he gives.

It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.

Whether or not you can observe a thing depends upon the theory you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed.

To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty... this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.

Don't listen to their words, fix your attention on their deeds.

We must not only learn to tolerate our differences. We must welcome them as the richness and diversity which can lead to true intelligence.

The music of Mozart is of such purity and beauty that one feels he merely found it -- that it has always existed as part of the inner beauty of the universe waiting to be revealed.

Mozart's music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner beauty of the universe.

Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder.

The strongest force in the universe is Compound Interest.

Curiosity is more important than knowledge.

I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas.

Man would indeeded be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

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

Israel is the only place on earth where Jews have the possibility to shape public life according to their own traditional ideals.

Everybody should be ashamed who uses the wonders of science and engineering without thinking and having mentally realized not more of it than a cow realizes of the botany of the plants which it eats with pleasure.

In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.

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

The leader is one who, out of the clutter, brings simplicity... out of discord, harmony... and out of difficulty, opportunity.

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 must be prepared to make the same heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.

If you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it enough.

The more a country makes military weapons, the more insecure it becomes: if you have weapons, you become a target for attack.

With all my heart I believe that the world's present system of sovereign nations can only lead to barbarism, war and inhumanity, and that only world law can assure progress towards a civilized peaceful community.

I do know that kind fate allowed me to find a couple of nice ideas after many years of feverish labor.

When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.

What separates me from most so-called atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos.

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

I never commit to memory anything that can easily be looked up in a book.

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.

If people would only talk about what they understood, Earth would be a very quiet place.

There is only one road to human greatness: through the school of hard knocks.

If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution.

The individual who has experienced solitude will not easily become a victim of mass suggestion.

Men should continue to fight, but they should fight for things worth while, not for imaginary geographical lines, racial prejudices and private greed draped in the color's of patriotism.

I have only two rules which I regard as principles of conduct. The first is: Have no rules. The second is: Be independent of the opinion of others.

Remember today, for it is the beginning of always. Today marks the start of a brave new future filled with all your dreams can hold. Think truly to the future and make those dreams come true.

All conditions and all circumstances in our lives are a result of a certain level of thinking. If we want to change the conditions and circumstances, we have to change the level of thinking that is responsible for it.

I refuse to engage in an intellectual battle with an unarmed man.

Live with purpose. Don't let people or things around you get you down.

Just because you believe in something does not mean that it is true.

The tragedy of life is what dies in the hearts and souls of people while they live.

I am neither especially clever nor especially gifted. I am only very, very curious.

Time is not at all what it seems. It does not flow in only one direction, and the future exists simultaneously with the past.

The only mistake in life is the lesson not learned.

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

Persistence is the most powerful force on earth, it can move mountains.

There is a driving force more powerful than steam, electricity and nuclear power: the will.