Quotes from Albert Einstein

It is no accident that capitalism has brought with it progress not merely in production but also in knowledge. Egoism and competition are, alas, stronger forces than public spirit and sense of duty.

One has to realize that the powerful industrial groups concerned in the manufacture of arms are doing their best in all countries to prevent the peaceful settlement of international disputes, and that rulers can achieve this great end only if they are sure of the vigorous support of the majority of their peoples. In these days of democratic government the fate of the nations hangs on themselves; each individual must always bear that in mind.

Why must every individual and every nation tremble for their existence? Because each seeks his own wretched momentary advantage and refuses to subordinate it to the welfare and prosperity of the community.

We thus obtain the following result: every description of events in space involves the use of a rigid body to which such events have to be referred. The resulting relationship takes for granted that the laws of Euclidean geometry hold for 'distances', the 'distance' being represented physically by means of the convention of two marks on a rigid body.

Bisognerebbe evitare di predicare ai giovani il successo nella solita forma come lo scopo principale nella vita. Il motivo più importante per lavorare a scuola e nella vita è il piacere nel lavoro, piacere nel suo risultato, e la consapevolezza del valore del risultato per la comunità.

A human being is a spatially and temporally limited piece of the whole of what we call the universe. He experiences himself and his feelings as separated from the rest, an optical illusion of his consciousness. The quest for liberation from this bondage [or delusion] is the sole object of real religion. Not nurturing the illusion but only overcoming it gives us the attainable measure of inner peace.

If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.

The purpose of mechanics is to describe how bodies change their position in space with 'time'.

Daran habe ich gar nicht gedacht!

It is open to every man to choose the direction of his striving; and also every man may draw comfort from Lessing's fine saying, that the search for truth is more precious than its possession.

The most beautiful emotion is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is something that our minds cannot grasp: this is religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I am a devoutly religious man.

Time is what prevents everything from happening at once

This is the God of Providence who protects, disposes, rewards, and punishes, the God who, according to the width of the believer's outlook, loves and cherishes the life of the tribe or of the human race, or even life as such, the comforter in sorrow and unsatisfied longing, who preserves the souls of the dead. This is the social or moral conception of God.

Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that's counted truly counts

Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism—how I hate them! War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business.

Eu não tenho nenhum talento especial. Apenas sou apaixonadamente curioso

Never before have I lived through a storm like the one this night. … The sea has a look of indescribable grandeur, especially when the sun falls on it. One feels as if one is dissolved and merged into Nature. Even more than usual, one feels the insignificance of the individual, and it makes one happy.

Everything in life is vibration

Il faut tout simplifier autant que possible, mais pas plus

The timid may say, "What is the use? We shall be sent to prison." To them I would reply: Even if only two percent of those assigned to perform military service should announce their refusal to fight, as well as urge means other than war of settling international disputes, governments would be powerless, they would not dare send such a large number of people to jail.

Ceux qui ont le privilège de savoir ont le devoir d'agir.

To arm is to give one's voice and make one's preparations, not for peace but for war.

Bidden verandert de wereld niet maar bidden verandert de mens en de mens verandert de wereld

Me pica muchísimo el culo