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 spe ial blessing." !! Albert Einstein "It may affront the military!minded person to suggest a re"ime that does not maintain any military se rets." !! Albert Einstein "It would be possible to des ribe everything s ientifi ally, but it would make no sense# it would be without meaning, as if you des ribed a $eethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure." !! Albert Einstein "%o long as they don't get violent, I want to let everyone say what they wish, for I myself have always said e&a tly 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 annot be held responsible for people falling in love." !! Albert Einstein 'hanks to (i k $urress )rburress*home. om+ ",hen you sit with a ni e girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. ,hen you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours that's relativity." !! Albert Einstein 'hanks to Glen E -elly )kelly*.etlink.net+ "/e who .oyfully mar hes to musi in rank and file has already earned my ontempt. /e has been given a large brain by mistake, s in e for him the spinal ord would fully suffi e. 'his disgra e to ivili0ation should be done away with at on e. /eroism at ommand, senseless brutality, deplorable love!of! ountry stan e, how violently I hate all this, how despi eable an ignoreable war is# I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an a tion1 It is my onvi tion that killing under the loak of war is nothing but an a t of murder." !! Albert Einstein 'hanks to Ale&ander Elsing )else*neuss.netsurf.de+ "As far as the laws of mathemati s refer to reality, they are not ertain# as far as they are ertain, they do not refer to reality."!!Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge. !! Albert Einstein %ometimes 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 alled resear h, would it2" ! Albert Einstein "3ommon sense is the olle tion of pre.udi es a "uired by age eighteen." ! Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, when asked to des ribe radio, replied4 "5ou see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long at. 5ou pull his tail in 6ew 5ork and his head is meowing in 7os Angeles. 8o you understand this2 And radio operates e&a tly the same way4 you send signals here, they re eive them there. 'he only differen e is that there is no at." God doesn't play di e. !! Albert Einstein God may be subtle, but /e isn't plain mean. !! Albert Einstein "I know not with what weapons ,orld ,ar III will be fought, but ,orld ,ar I9 will be fought with sti ks and stones." !! Albert Einstein If A e"uals su ess, then the formula is : A ; : < = : 5 = : >. : < is work. : 5 is play. : > is keep your mouth shut. !! Albert Einstein "If I had only known, I would have been a lo ksmith." !! Albert Einstein ?an usually avoids attributing leverness to somebody else !! unless it is an enemy. !! Albert Einstein 'he hardest thing in the world to understand is the in ome ta&. !! Albert Einstein "'he se ret to reativity is knowing how to hide your sour es." !!Albert Einstein "If the fa ts don't fit the theory, hange the fa ts." !!Albert Einstein "I never think of the future. It omes soon enough." !!Albert Einstein "@nly two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." !!Albert Einstein "$efore God we are all e"ually wise ! and e"ually foolish." !!Albert Einstein ABCDE!BEFFG "'he most in omprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all omprehensible." !!Albert Einstein ABCDE!BEFFG "'he release of atomi energy has not reated a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the ne essity of solving an e&isting one." !!Albert Einstein ABCDE!BEFFG "5ou annot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." !!Albert Einstein ABCDE!BEFFG "'here are only two ways to live your life. @ne is as though nothing is a mira le. 'he other is as though everything is a mira le." !!A. Einstein "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from medio rities. 'he latter annot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary pre.udi es but honestly and ourageously uses his intelligen e." !!Einstein, Albert "A man's ethi al behavior should be based effe tually on sympathy, edu ation, and so ial ties# no religious basis is ne essary. ?an 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 ",hat really interests me is whether God had any hoi e in the reation of the world." !!Albert Einstein "If one studies too 0ealously, one easily loses his pants." !!Albert Einstein 'hrough the release of atomi energy, our generation has brought into the world the most revolutionary for e sin e prehistori man's dis overy of fire. 'his basi

for e of the universe annot be fitted into the outmoded on ept of narrow nationalisms. Hor there is no se ret and there is no defense# there is no possibility of ontrol e& ept through the aroused understanding and insisten e of the peoples of the world. ,e s ientists re ognise our ines apable responsibility to arry to our fellow iti0ens an understanding of atomi energy and its impli ation for so iety. In this lies our only se urity and our only hope ! we believe that an informed iti0enry will a t for life and not for death. A. Einstein, BEID d.3. If you are out to des ribe the truth, leave elegan e 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 od we are all e!ually wise - and e!ually foolish.

Albert Einstein

"o not worry about your difficulties in #athematics. $ can assure you mine are still greater.
Albert Einstein

Ethical a%ioms are found and tested not very differently from the a%ioms of science. Truth is what stands the test of e%perience.
Albert Einstein

reat spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary pre&udices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
Albert Einstein

$ 'now not with what weapons (orld (ar $$$ will be fought, but (orld (ar $) will be fought with stic's and stones.
Albert Einstein

$ never thin' of the future - it comes soon enough.

Albert Einstein

$f $ had only 'nown, $ would have been a loc'smith.

Albert Einstein

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

$magination is more important than 'nowledge... Albert Einstein ",hen a blind beetle rawls over the surfa e of the

globe, he doesn't reali0e that the tra k he has overed is urved. I was lu ky enough to have spotted it." "I have no parti ular talent. I am merely in"uisitive." "It's not that I'm so smart , it's .ust that I stay with problems longer ." 6othing that I an do will hange the stru ture of the universe. $ut maybe, by raising my voi e, I an help in the greatest of all auses !! goodwill among men and pea e on earth. Imagination is more important than knowledge. -nowledge is limited. Imagination en ir les the world." "If I had my life to live over again, I'd be a plumber." "If I were not a physi ist, I would probably be a musi ian. I often think in musi . I live my daydreams in musi . I see my life in terms of musi . ... I get most .oy in life out of musi ." "'he release of atom power has hanged everything e& ept our way of thinking... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have be ome a wat hmaker." "'he only thing that interferes with my learning is my edu ation." "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be alled resear h, would it2" "I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. "'he ideals whi h have always shone before me and filled me with the .oy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. 'o make a goal of omfort or happiness has never appealed to me# a system of ethi s built on this basis would be suffi ient only for a herd of attle."

"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 omes soon enough." "8o not worry about your problems with mathemati s, I assure you mine are far greater." "'wo things inspire me to awe !! the starry heavens above and the moral universe within." "?y life is a simple thing that would interest no one. It is a known fa t that I was born and that is all that is ne essary." "As far as I'm on erned, I prefer silent vi e to ostentatious virtue." ",hen I e&amine myself and my methods of thought, I ome to the on lusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."

On The Universe "@nly two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." "'he most in omprehensible thing about the universe is that it is omprehensible." ""A human being is part of the whole, alled by us 'Jniverse,' a part limited in time and spa e. /e e&perien es himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest ! a kind of opti al delusion of his ons iousness. 'his delusion is a kind of prison for us, restri ting us to our personal desires and to affe tion for a few persons nearest to us. @ur task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our ir le of ompassion to embra e all living reatures and the whole nature in

its beauty. 6obody is able to a hieve this ompletely, but the striving for su h a hievement is in itself a part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner se urit" "?an tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible pi ture of the world# he then tries to some e&tent to substitute this osmos of his for the world of e&perien e, and thus to over ome it. 'his is what the painter, the poet, the spe ulative philosopher, and the natural s ientists do, ea h in his own fashion. Ea h makes this osmos and its onstru tion the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way pea e and se urity whi h he an not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal e&perien e."

On Education "6ever regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influen e of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal .oy and to the profit of the ommunity to whi h your later work belongs." "6ot everything that ounts an be ounted, and not everything that an be ounted ounts." "'ea hing should be su h that what is offered is per eived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty ." "'ry not to be ome a man of su ess but rather to be ome a man of value." "It is the supreme art of the tea her to awaken .oy in reative e&pression and knowledge." "'he point is to develop the hildlike in lination for play and the hildlike desire for re ognition and to guide the hild over to important fields for so iety. %u h a s hool demands from the tea her that he be a kind of artist in his provin e."

"'o me the worst thing seems to be a s hool prin ipally to work with methods of fear, for e and artifi ial authority. %u h treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the sin erity and the self! onfiden e of pupils and produ es a subservient sub.e t." "@ne should guard against prea hing to young people su ess in the ustomary form as the main aim in life. 'he most important motive for work in s hool and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the ommunity." ,hoever undertakes to set himself up as .udge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwre ked by the laughter of the Gods." 'he e&ample of great and pure individuals is the only thing that an lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. "@ne had to ram all this stuff into one's mind for the e&aminations, whether one liked it or not. 'his oer ion had su h a deterring effe t on me that, after I had passed the final e&amination, I found the onsideration of any s ientifi problems distasteful to me for an entire year." "'he se ret to reativity is knowing how to hide your sour es." "'he only sour e of knowledge is e&perien e" "'he intuitive mind is a sa red gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. ,e have reated a so iety that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." ",e should take are not to make the intelle t our god# it has, of ourse, powerful mus les, but no personality." 'he important thing is not to stop "uestioning. 3uriosity has its own reason for e&isting. @ne annot help but be in awe when he ontemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous stru ture of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to omprehend a little of this mystery every day. 6ever lose a holy uriosity."

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from medio re minds. 'he latter annot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary pre.udi es but honestly and ourageously uses his intelligen e." ",hoever undertakes to set himself up as .udge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwre ked by the laughter of the Gods." "Edu ation is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in s hool." On Life "'here are only two ways to live your life. @ne is as though nothing is a mira le. 'he other is as though everything is a mira le." "'he devil has put a penalty on all things we en.oy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat." "'he pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of a tivity in whi h we are permitted to remain hildren all our lives." "A table, a hair, a bowl of fruit and a violin# what else does a man need to be happy." "@nly 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." "'he most beautiful thing we an e&perien e is the mysterious. It is the sour e of all true art and s ien e. /e to whom this emotion is a stranger, who an no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead4 his eyes are losed." "Gravitation an not be held responsible for people falling in love" "Koy in looking and omprehending is nature's most beautiful gift." "%ometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."

"'he intelle t has little to do on the road to dis overy. 'here omes a leap in ons iousness, all it Intuition or what you will, the solution omes to you and you don't know how or why". "'he hardest thing in the world to understand is the in ome ta&." "3ommon sense is the olle tion of pre.udi es a "uired by age BC. "Hew are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts." "If you are out to des ribe the truth, leave elegan e to the tailor." "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." "If A e"uals su ess, then the formula is4 A;<=5=>. < is work. 5 is play. > is keep your mouth shut." "Lerfe tion of means and onfusion of ends seem to hara teri0e our age." "'he only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at on e." ",eakness of attitude be omes weakness of hara ter." "@nly one who devotes himself to a ause with his whole strength and soul an be a true master. Hor this reason mastery demands all of a person." "ABG 'hose instrumental goods whi h should serve to maintain the life and health of all human beings should be produ ed by the least possible labour of all. AMG 'he satisfa tion of physi al needs is indeed the indespensible pre ondition of a satisfa tory e&isten e, but in itself is not enough. In order to be ontent men must also have the possibility of developing their intelle tual and artisti powers to whatever e&tent a ord with their personal hara teristi s and abilities." 6othing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty# it stems rather from love and devotion toward men and toward ob.e tive things.

"'he true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in whi h he has attained liberation from the self." "'oo many of us look upon Ameri ans as dollar hasers. 'his is a ruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Ameri ans themselves." /ow on earth are you ever going to e&plain in terms of hemistry and physi s so important a biologi al phenomenon as first love2" "Gravitation an not be held responsible for people falling in love" "Lut your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. %it with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. '/A''% relativity." "...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and s ien e is es ape from everyday life with its painful rudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever!shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to es ape from the personal life into the world of ob.e tive per eption and thought." "(eality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." "'he only real valuable thing is intuition." "A person starts to live when he an live outside himself." ",eakness of attitude be omes weakness of hara ter." "'he eternal mystery of the world is its omprehensibility." "%ometimes 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." "% ien e is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."

"'he se ret to reativity is knowing how to hide your sour es." "'he whole of s ien e is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."

On Religion "God does not are about our mathemati al diffi ulties. /e integrates empiri ally." "Intelligen e makes lear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. $ut mere thinking annot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. 'o make lear these fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life of the individual, seems to me pre isely the most important fun tion whi h religion has to form in the so ial life of man." "Hew people are apable of e&pressing with e"uanimity opinions whi h differ from the pre.udi es of their so ial environment. ?ost people are even in apable of forming su h opinions." "All religions, arts and s ien es are bran hes of the same tree. All these aspirations are dire ted toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physi al e&isten e and leading the individual towards freedom." "'he minority, the ruling lass at present, has the s hools and press, usually the 3hur h as well, under its thumb. 'his enables it to organi0e and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them." NAlbert Einstein, letter to %igmund Hreud, OP Kuly BEOMQ "'rue religion is real living# living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness." ",hen the solution is simple, God is answering." "'he most important fun tion of art and s ien e is to Awaken the osmi religious feeling and keep it alive."

"I maintain that osmi religiousness is the strongest and most noble driving for e of s ientifi resear h." "I annot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the ob.e ts of his reation, whose purposes are modeled after our own !! a God, in short, who is but a refle tion of human frailty. 6either an I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor su h thoughts through fear or ridi ulous egotisms." NAlbert Einstein, obituary in 6ew 5ork 'imes, BE April BEFFQ "'he religion of the future will be a osmi religion. 'he religion whi h based on e&perien e, whi h refuses dogmati . If there's any religion that would ope the s ientifi needs it will be $uddhism...." "?y religion onsists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to per eive with our frail and feeble mind." "'he highest prin iples for our aspirations and .udgements are given to us in the Kewish!3hristian religious tradition. It is a very high goal whi h, with our weak powers, we an rea h only very inade"uately, but whi h 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 thus4 free and responsible development of the individual, so that he may pla e his powers freely and gladly in the servi e 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." "% ientifi resear h is based on the idea that everything that takes pla e is determined by laws of nature, and therefore this holds for the a tion of people. Hor this reason, a resear h s ientist will hardly be in lined to believe that events ould be influen ed by a prayer, i.e. by a wish

addressed to a %upernatural $eing." NAlbert Einstein, BEOR, responding to a hild who wrote and asked if s ientists pray. %our e4 "Albert Einstein4 'he /uman %ide", Edited by /elen 8ukas and $anesh /offmann "A man's ethi al behavior should be based effe tually on sympathy, edu ation, and so ial ties and needs# no religious basis is ne essary. ?an would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." NAlbert Einstein, "(eligion and % ien e", 6ew 5ork 'imes ?aga0ine, E 6ovember BEOPQ "'he further the spiritual evolution of mankind advan es, the more ertain 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." "-nowledge of what is does not open the door dire tly to what should be. If one asks the when e derives the authority of fundamental ends, sin e they annot be stated and .ustifed merely by reason, one an only answer4 they e&ist in a healthy so iety as powerful traditions, whi h a t upon the ondu t and aspirations and .udgements of the individuals# they are there, that is, as something living, without its being ne essary to find .ustifi ation for their e&isten e. 'hey ome into being not through demonstration but through revelation, through the medium of powerful personalities. @ne must not attempt to .ustify them, but rather to sense their nature simply and learly." ",hoever undertakes to set himself up as .udge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwre ked by the laughter of the Gods." "It is only to the individual that a soul is given." "In the temple of s ien e are many mansions, and various indeed are they that dwell therein and the motives that have led them hither. ?any take to s ien e out of a .oyful sense of

superior intelle tual power# s ien e is their own spe ial sport to whi h they look for vivid e&perien e and the satisfa tion of ambition# many others are to be found in the temple who have offered the produ ts of their brains on this altar for purely utilitarian purposes. ,ere an angel of the 7ord to ome and drive all the people belonging to these two ategories 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 imma ulate member of a flo k of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself." "All religions, arts and s ien es are bran hes of the same tree. All these aspirations are dire ted toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physi al e&isten e and leading the individual towards freedom." "A man's ethi al behavior should be based effe tually on sympathy, edu ation, and so ial ties and needs# no religious basis is ne essary. ?an would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." NAlbert Einstein, "(eligion and % ien e", 6ew 5ork 'imes ?aga0ine, E 6ovember BEOPQ "'he mysti al trend of our time, whi h shows itself parti ularly in the rampant growth of the so! alled 'heosophy and %piritualism, is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and onfusion. %in e our inner e&perien es onsist of reprodu tions, and ombinations of sensory impressions, the on ept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning." "It was, of ourse, a lie what you read about my religious onvi tions, a lie whi h is being systemati ally repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have e&pressed it learly. If something is in me whi h an be alled religious then it is the

unbounded admiration for the stru ture of the world so far as our s ien e an reveal it." NAlbert Einstein, BEFI, from "Albert Einstein4 'he /uman %ide", edited by /elen 8ukas and $anesh /offman, Lrin eton Jniversity LressQ "I am onvin ed that some politi al and so ial a tivities and pra ti es of the 3atholi organi0ations are detrimental and even dangerous for the ommunity as a whole, here and everywhere. I mention here only the fight against birth ontrol at a time when overpopulation in various ountries has be ome a serious threat to the health of people and a grave obsta le to any attempt to organi0e pea e on this planet." N letter, BEFIQ "'he devil has put a penalty on all things we en.oy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat." ",hat I see in 6ature is a magnifi ent stru ture that we an omprehend only very imperfe tly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of "humility." 'his is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysti ism" "'he finest emotion of whi h we are apable is the mysti emotion. /erein lies the germ of all art and all true s ien e. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer apable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. 'o know that what is impenatrable for us really e&ists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor fa ulties ! this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the ore of the true religious sent iment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself amoung profoundly religious men." "Hew people are apable of e&pressing with e"uanimity opinions whi h differ from the pre.udi es of their so ial environment. ?ost people are even in apable of forming su h opinions."

"Intelligen e makes lear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. $ut mere thinking annot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. 'o make lear these fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life of the i ndividual, seems to me pre isely the most important fun tion whi h religion has to form in the so ial life of man." "All religions, arts and s ien es are bran hes of the same tree. All these aspirations are dire ted toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physi al e&isten e and leading the individual towards freedom." "'he more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events the firmer be omes his onvi tion that there is no room left by the side of this ordered regularity for auses of a different nature. Hor him neither the rule of human nor the rule of divine will e&ist as an independent ause of natural events. 'o be sure, the do trine of a personal God interfering with the natural events ould never be refuted, in the real sense, by s ien e, for this do trine an always take refuge in those domains in whi h s ientifi knowledge has not yet been able to set foot. $ut I am persuaded that su h behaviour on the part of the representatives of religion would not only be unworthy but also fatal. Hor a do trine whi h is able to maintain itself not in lear light but only in the dark, will of ne essity lose its effe t on mankind, with in al ulable harm to human progress .... If it is one of the goals of religions to liberate maknind as far as possible from the bondage of ego entri ravings, desires, and fears, s ientifi reasoning an aid religion in another sense. Although it is true that it is the goal of s ien e to dis over AtheG rules whi h permit the asso iation and foretelling of fa ts, this is not its only aim. It also seeks to redu e the onne tions dis overed to the smallest possible number of mutually independent on eptual elements. It is in this striving after the rational unifi ation of the manifold that it en ounters its greatest su esses,

even though it is pre isely this attempt whi h auses it to run the greatest risk of falling a prey to illusion. $ut whoever has undergone the intense e&perien e of su essful advan es made in this domain, is moved by the profound reveren e for the rationality made manifest in e&isten e. $y way of the understanding he a hieves a far rea hing eman ipation from the sha kles of personal hopes and desires, and thereby attains that humble attitude of mind toward the grandeur of reason, in arnate in e&isten e, and whi h, in its profoundest depths, is ina essible to man. 'his attitude, however, appears to me to be religious in the highest sense of the word. And so it seems to me that s ien e not only purifies the religious imulse of the dross of its anthropomorphism but also ontibutes to a religious spiritualisation of our understanding of life." NAlbert Einstein, "% ien e, Lhilosophy, and (eligion, A %ymposium", published by the 3onferen e on % ien e, Lhilosophy and (eligion in 'heir (elation to the 8emo rati ,ay of 7ife, In ., 6ew 5ork, BEIBQ "I annot believe that God would hoose to play di e with the universe." or sometimes "uoted as "God does not play di e with the universe." "I annot on eive of a personal God who would dire tly influen e the a tions of individuals, or would dire tly sit in .udgment on reatures of his own reation. I annot do this in spite of the fa t that me hanisti ausality has, to a ertain e&tent, b een pla ed in doubt by modern s ien e. N/e was speaking of Quantum ?e hani s and the breaking down of determinism.Q ?y religiosity onsists in a humble admiratation of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our we ak and transitory understanding, an omprehend of reality. ?orality is of the highest importan e !! but for us, not for God." NAlbert Einstein, from "Albert Einstein4 'he /uman %ide", edited by /elen 8ukas and $anesh /offman, Lrin eton Jniversity LressQ

"If the possibility of the spiritual development of all individuals is to be se ured, a se ond kind of outward freedom is ne essary. 'he development of s ien e and of the reative a tivities of the spirit in general re"uires still another kind of freedom, whi h may be hara terised as inward freedom. It is this freedom of the spirit whi h onsists in the interdependen e of thought from the restri tions of authoritarian and so ial pre.udi es as well as from unphilosophi al routini0ing and habit in general. 'his inward freedom is an infre"uent gift of nature and a worthy ob.e t for the individual." "% ien e without religion is lame, religion without s ien e is blind."

On War and Peace "An empty stoma h is not a good politi al advisor." "6ationalism is an infantile si kness. It is the measles of the human ra e." ",e shall re"uire a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive." 9iolen e sometimes may have leared away obstru tions "ui kly, but it never has proved itself reative. ",hy does this applied s ien e, whi h saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness2 'he simple answer runs4 $e ause we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it." "'he dis overy of nu lear hain rea tions need not bring about the destru tion of mankind any more than did the dis overy of mat hes. ,e only must do everything in our power to safeguard against its abuse. @nly a supranational organi0ation, e"uipped with a suffi iently strong e&e utive power, an prote t us." ABEFOG "Any intelligent fool an make things bigger, more omple&, and more violent. It takes a tou h

of genius !! and a lot of ourage !! to move in the opposite dire tion." "/e who .oyfully mar hes to musi in rank and file has already earned my ontempt. /e has been given a large brain by mistake, sin e for him the spinal ord would fully suffi e. 'his disgra e to ivili0ation should be done away with at on e. /eroism at ommand, senseless brutality, deplorable love!of! ountry stan e, how violently I hate all this, how despi able and ignoble war is# I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an a tion1 It is my onvi tion that killing under the loak of war is nothing but an a t of murder." A Lrayer for Jnderstanding @h, great Hather, never let me .udge another man until I have walked in his mo asins for two weeks. Lea e annot be kept by for e, it an only be kept by understanding. ...N6otes on pa ifismQ "Lea e annot be a hieved through violen e, it an only be attained through understanding." "?ankind's desire for pea e an be reali0ed only by the reation of a world government." "Every thoughtful, well!meaning and ons ientious human being should assume in time of pea e, the solemn and un onditional obligation not to parti ipate in any war, for any reason or to lend support of any kind, whether dire t or indire t." "'he unleashed power of the atom has hanged everything save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift toward unparalleled atastrophe." "'e hnologi al progress is like an a&e in the hands of a pathologi al riminal." "%in e I do not foresee that atomi energy is to be a great boon for a long time, I have to say that for the present it is a mena e. Lerhaps it is well that it should be. It many intimidate the human ra e into bringing order into it's international affairs, whi h without the pressure of fear, it would not do."

"$ut ould not our situation be ompared to one of a mena ing epidemi 2 Leople are unable to view this situation in its true light, for their eyes are blinded by passion. General fear and an&iety reate hatred and aggressiveness. 'he adaptation to warlike aims and a tivities has orrupted the mentality of man# as a result, intelligent, ob.e tive and humane thinking has hardly any effe t and is even suspe ted and perse uted as unpatrioti ." ..Einstein "'he ?ena e of ?ass 8estru tion" "In our time the military mentality is still more dangerous than formerly be ause the offensive weapons have be ome mu h more powerful than the defensive ones. 'herefore, it leads, by ne essity, to preventive war. 'he general inse urity that goes hand in hand with this results in the sa rifi e of the iti0en's ivil rights to the supposed welfare of the state. Loliti al wit h!hunting, ontrols of all sorts Ae.g., ontrol of tea hing and resear h, of the press, and so forthG appear inevitable, and for this reason do not en ounter that popular resistan e, whi h, were it not for the military mentality, would provide prote tion. A reappraisal of all values gradually takes pla e insofar as everything that does not learly serve the utopian ends is regarded and treated as inferior."...Einstein "'he ?ilitary ?entality" "Hor e always attra ts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are su eeded by s oundrels." As long as armies e&ist, any serious onfli t will lead to war. It is hara teristi of the military mentality that non!human fa tors are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thoughts, are onsidered as unimportant and se ondary. 5ou annot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war. 'o on entrate on the problems and aspirations whi h all thinking men share reates a sense of omradeship that is eventually bound to reunite s holars and artists of all nations. ,arfare annot be humani0ed. It an only be abolished. "'he pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military servi e."

A large part of history is replete with the struggle for human rights, an eternal struggle in whi h final vistory an never be won. $ut to tire in that struggle would mean the ruin of so iety. @nly understanding for our neighbors, .usti e in our dealings, and willingness to help our fellow men an give human so iety permanen e and assure se urity for the individual. ,e s ientists, whose tragi destination has been to help in making the methods of annihilation more gruesome and more effe tive, must onsider it our solemn and trans endent duty to do all in our power in preventing these weapons from being used for the brutal purpose for whi h they were invented. ,hat task ould possibly be more important to us2 ,hat so ial aim ould be loser to our hearts2 /uman beings, vegetables, or osmi dust# we all dan e to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distan e by an invisable piper. "'he signifi ant problems we fa e annot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we reated them." "6or do I take into a ount a danger of starting a hain rea tion of a s ope great enough to destroy part or all of the planet...$ut it is not ne essary to imagine the earth being destroyed like a nova by a stellar e&plosion to understand vividly the grow ing s ope of atomi war and to re ogni0e that unless another war is prevented it is likely to bring destru tion on a s ale never before held possible, and even now hardly on eived, and that little ivili0ation would survive it." ABEIDG "'he real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man." "Loliti s is a pendulum whose swings between anar hy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually re.uvenated illusions." "/eroism on ommand, senseless violen e, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism !! how passionately I hate them1" "Hew are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."

"@ne does not make wars less likely by formulationg rules of warfare... war annot be humani0ed. It an only be eliminated..." ,hen Einstein died on April BC, BEFF he left a pie e of writing ending in an unfinished senten e. 'here were his last words4 In essen e, the onfli t that e&ists today is no more than an old! style struggle for power, on e again presented to mankind in semireligious trappings. 'he differen e is that, this time, the development of atomi power has imbued the struggle with a ghostly hara ter# for both parties know and admit that, should the "uarrel deteriorate into a tual war, mankind is doomed. 8espite this knowledge, statesmen in responsible positions on both sides ontinue to employ the well!known te hni"ue of seeking to intimidate and demorali0e the opponent by marshaling superior military strength. 'hey do so even though su h a poli y entails the risk of war and doom. 6ot one statesman in a position of responsibility has dared to pursue the only ourse that holds out any promise of pea e, the ourse of supranational se urity, sin e for a statesman to follow su h a ourse would be tantamount to politi al sui ide. Loliti al passions, on e they have been fanned into flame, e&a t their vi tims ... 3itater fra...

Collected Quotes from Albert Einstein---unverified

"Any intelligent fool can ma'e things bigger, more comple%, and more violent. $t ta'es a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." "$magination is more important than 'nowledge." " ravitation is not responsible for people falling in love." "$ want to 'now od*s thoughts; the rest are details." "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income ta%." "+eality 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." "$ am convinced that ,e - od. does not play dice." " od is subtle but he is not malicious." "(ea'ness of attitude becomes wea'ness of character."

"$ never thin' of the future. $t comes soon enough." "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility." "/ometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing." "/cience without religion is lame. +eligion without science is blind." "Anyone who has never made a mista'e has never tried anything new." " reat spirits have often encountered violent opposition from wea' minds." "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." "0ommon sense is the collection of pre&udices ac!uired by age eighteen." "/cience is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one*s living at it." "The secret to creativity is 'nowing how to hide your sources." "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." " od does not care about our mathematical difficulties. ,e integrates empirically." "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thin'ing." "Technological progress is li'e an a%e in the hands of a pathological criminal." "1eace cannot be 'ept by force. $t can only be achieved by understanding." "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." "(e can*t solve problems by using the same 'ind of thin'ing 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 !uestioning. 0uriosity has its own reason for e%isting." ""o not worry about your difficulties in #athematics. $ can assure you mine are still greater." "E!uations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an e!uation is something for eternity." "$f A is a success in life, then A e!uals % plus y plus 2. (or' is %; y is play; and 2 is 'eeping your mouth shut." "Two things are infinite3 the universe and human stupidity; and $*m not sure about the the universe." "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." "(hoever underta'es to set himself up as a &udge of Truth and 4nowledge is shipwrec'ed by the laughter of the gods." "$ 'now not with what weapons (orld (ar $$$ will be fought, but (orld (ar $) will be fought with stic's and stones." "$n order to form an immaculate member of a floc' of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep." "The fear of death is the most un&ustified of all fears, for there*s no ris' of accident for someone who*s dead." "Too many of us loo' upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves." ",eroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately $ hate them5"

"6o, this tric' won*t wor'...,ow on earth are you ever going to e%plain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love7" "#y 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." "8es, we have to divide up our time li'e that, between our politics and our e!uations. But to me our e!uations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical e!uation stands forever." "The release of atom power has changed everything e%cept our way of thin'ing...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of man'ind. $f only $ had 'nown, $ should have become a watchma'er." " reat spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary pre&udices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." "The most beautiful thing we can e%perience is the mysterious. $t is the source of all true art and all science. ,e to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead3 his eyes are closed." "A man*s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. #an 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 man'ind 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 'nowledge." "6ow he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. 1eople li'e us, who believe in physics, 'now that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." "8ou see, wire telegraph is a 'ind of a very, very long cat. 8ou pull his tail in 6ew 8or' and his head is meowing in 9os Angeles. "o you understand this7 And radio operates e%actly the same way3 you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." ":ne had to cram all this stuff into one*s mind for the e%aminations, whether one li'ed it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after $ had passed the final e%amination, $ 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 ob&ective perception and thought." ",e who &oyfully marches to music ran' and file, has already earned my contempt. ,e has been given a large brain by mista'e, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civili2ation should be done away with at once. ,eroism at command, how violently $ hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; $ would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action.

$t is my conviction that 'illing under the cloa' 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. ,e e%periences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a 'ind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a 'ind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. :ur tas' 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." "6ot everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." -/ign hanging in Einstein*s office at 1rinceton.