Albert Einstein Quotes

Einstein was born in Ulm, Württemberg, Germany on 14 March 1879 and arrived in New York City on 2 April 1921.

He received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in theoretical physics, and for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.

Einstein is best known for his theory on relativity and mass energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2.

He was also an inventor, and patented an eco-friendly refrigerator that operated without electricity or any moving parts.

Einstein believed science to be derived from examining physical reality in search for underlying truths, and that these truths had to be consistent explanations without contradiction.

In 1999, Time magazine named Einstein as the "Person of the Century". In 2008, Time magazine named the Einstein Refrigerator as among the Best 50 Inventions.

Einstein died in Princeton Hospital on April 18, 1955 from internal bleeding caused by the rupture of an aortic aneuryism. His name is often used as a synonym for "genius".

Below you will find some of the more famous Albert Einstein quotes.

Education

picture-of-albert-einstein

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."

"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty."

"Information is not knowledge."

"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 freedom."

"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."

"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."

"I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

"By academic freedom I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right implies also a duty: one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true. It is evident that any restriction on academic freedom acts in such a way as to hamper the dissemination of knowledge among the people and thereby impedes national judgment and action."

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

"To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself."

Problems

picture-of-albert-einstein "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"

"I sometimes ask myself how it came about that I was the one to develop the theory of relativity. The reason, I think, is that a normal adult never stops to think about problems of space and time. These are things which he has thought about as a child. But my intellectual development was retarded, as a result of which I began to wonder about space and time only when I had already grown up."

"It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I stay with problems longer."

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Value

"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value."

"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving."

"Only a life lived for others is a life worth while."

Politics

"The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to insure the unhindered development of the individual."

"Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions."

"The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax."

Achievement

picture-of-albert-einstein "The value of achievement lies in the achieving."

"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things."

"People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results."

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

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"I never allow myself to become discouraged under any circumstances. The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are first, hard work, second, stick-to-ittiveness, third, common sense."

"The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything."

Relativity

"When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it seems like two hours. That's relativity."

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

"Since the mathematicians have invaded the theory of relativity, I do not understand it myself anymore."

Criticism

"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."

"If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew."

Science

"The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder."

"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."

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

Innovation

It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty."

"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."

"Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure."

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

"I have no particular talent. I am merely inquisitive."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning."