essay about changing the world

Was Global Trade a Mistake?

Across two new books, the ideal of a global free market buckles under pressure from protesters, politicians of all stripes and the Covid pandemic.

Demonstrators protesting a 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle. Credit... Robert Sorbo/Sygma, via Getty Images

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By Matthew Zeitlin

Matthew Zeitlin is an economics and climate correspondent for Heatmap News.

• June 19, 2024

ONE WEEK TO CHANGE THE WORLD: An Oral History of the 1999 WTO Protests, by DW Gibson

HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING: Inside the Global Supply Chain, by Peter S. Goodman

On a cold November morning in 1999, Harold Linde, a member of the Rainforest Action Network, was trying to hang an enormous sign from a construction crane hundreds of feet in the air over downtown Seattle. Loosely attached to a rope, he rappelled off the crane, lost control and began to plummet.

Linde might have died, but thanks to the Ruckus Society, a nonprofit that trains activist groups, he knew to rip off his frictionless fleece gloves, grab onto the rope with his bare hands and wait for his colleagues to help him back up. After some spiritual assistance from “a circle of pagan witches on the ground” who were “sending prayers up,” Linde and his friends succeeded in unfurling a 100-pound banner. It showed two arrows pointing in opposite directions, one labeled “DEMOCRACY” and the other “W.T.O.”

This stunt, which kicked off t he Battle of Seattle , a protest of the third ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, captures the combination of high idealism, drama, detailed organization, radicalism and public relations savvy that defined a movement against the rising tide of globalization in the decades after the Cold War.

DW Gibson’s comprehensive oral history “One Week to Change the World” gives a panoramic view of the multiday festival of dissent, from its authorized marches and semi-legal “direct actions” to its extremely illegal vandalism. There was even a concert.

The protests attracted the attention of progressive elected officials like Sherrod Brown and Dennis Kucinich, grunge scene stalwarts like Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, the presidential candidate Ralph Nader, the linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky and the British actress Julie Christie. “Wow — we’re really going to give them an experience,” Nader recalls thinking. The experience ended with mass arrests, broken windows and tear-gassed protesters.

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BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

Changing the world.

By Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche • 6 min read

Your mind, your world

There’s an inextricable relationship between our minds and our external world. Whether we perceive our environment as gorgeous or hideous, useful or a hindrance, neutral or deeply meaningful — it all depends on what’s within us. If you can perceive it, it’s happening in your mind.

The spoon can’t do it

This is true even of your physical senses. Take taste, for example. You take a bite of food, causing your organs of taste to send signals to your brain; then quickly your mind forms a judgment: Delicious! Or, ugh, sickening! Or, hmm, needs salt.

All your perceptions of external phenomena are like this. If you think about it, it only makes sense. After all, objects outside of your mind don’t have the power to explain their existence to you. A spoon can’t say, “Over here! I’m a spoon! You can use me to eat soup!” Only you can identify it as a spoon and assign it a name and a function. This subjectivity is the reason that, if you want to change your outer environment, the best place to begin is your own mind.

Altruism and ego

Should you attempt to change the surroundings without transforming yourself, you’ll encounter a lot of pitfalls. The Dalai Lama has spoken often about this type of situation — people starting out with a pure intention to “change the world,” but then, once their endeavor is underway, they begin to get concerned about how it benefits them.

For example, let’s say you feel moved to plant one thousand trees. If your heart is completely pure, and love for the ecosystem is your sole motivation, it’s a wonderful plan.

However, it’s not good if — despite your good intentions — there’s a little voice in the back of your mind whispering, “This is gonna make me look really good,” or, “I can’t find a decent job, so maybe I should use this venture to launch an organization and make a profit.” If you don’t address your inner environment, even your altruistic actions can become self-interested. They can take a back seat to your personal issues. They can cause problems within your mind, or among your friends and community. The situation can get very convoluted.

“The outer environment and inner environment are really connected. If you want to change, then first you try to change your inner environment, and then you can change the outer environment ”

– Mingyur Rinpoche –

Control tower

Conversely, if you transform your mind in the service of helping the external world, your actions will have tremendous power. Without your mind, you can’t do anything. It’s the control tower, the force guiding and controlling your actions, navigating you from points A to B. If you harbor any doubts on that point, recall that in this very moment, if your mind didn’t think, “Okay, time to go on to the next thing,” you’d be staring at this sentence for the rest of your life. In order to be of assistance to other sentient beings, your head and heart need to be in the right place. It all starts from the inner environment.

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In his approach to teaching meditation, Mingyur Rinpoche integrates traditional Buddhist practice and philosophy with the current scientific understanding of the mind and mental health – making the practice of meditation relevant and accessible to students around the world. Mingyur Rinpoche is the author of the best-selling book The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness, as well as Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom, In Love with the World: A Monk’s Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying, and many others.

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11 essays on societal transformation: the most important challenge facing humanity.

ARTICLE | November 29, 2021 | BY WAAS ST Working Group

In February 2021, the World Academy of Art and Science hosted an expert panel on societal transformation as part of its 60 th anniversary conference. From this, a working group was formed for the purpose of identifying, developing, promoting and implementing practical, catalytic strategies for addressing major challenges and evolving human society into sustainable form. The societal transformation project was proposed and initiated by WAAS Associate Fellow Julene Siddique, a System Change and Arts expert. She is co-moderating the working group with WAAS Fellows Frank Dixon and Barry Gills.

Societal transformation has been a foundational theme of the Academy for many years. This project builds on WAAS’ substantial body of work in the field. This paper provides a collection of short essays from group members about societal transformation concepts and strategies.

Evolving human society into sustainable form (societal transformation) is the meta challenge. All other issues are sub-elements of it. Many experts have addressed different aspects of societal transformation over the past 50 plus years. It is widely recognized that reductionism is a, if not the, foundational cause of humanity’s unsustainability and major challenges. As WAAS founder Albert Einstein famously said, we must think at a higher level to solve our most complex challenges.

That higher level is whole systems thinking. It is based on the reality of humanity’s interconnectedness with nature and each other. This higher level thinking illuminates societal interconnections, root causes, systemic barriers, key leverage points and optimal systemic solutions. The following essays emphasize interconnectedness and provide societal transformation theories and strategies based on it.

Humanity is facing a multifaceted planetary crisis. This has fueled incredible potential momentum for change. The human species has so greatly impacted the natural world that we are crossing possibly six of the nine planetary boundaries identified by Rockström (Rockström et. al. 2009; Steffen and Morgan 2021). The recent IPCC Sixth Assessment report alerts us to the profound need for wide ranging societal transformation at a global scale. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted long entrenched systemic flaws in national and global systems and brought social and economic inequalities into a sharper focus.

Societal transformation has occurred numerous times throughout global history. But the depth, breadth and rapidity of transformation we face today are unprecedented. To address this heightened challenge, the Societal Transformation Working Group brings together a diverse group of thinkers. They discuss the deep systemic change and societal transformation needed to protect humanity and all life on Earth.

The following collection of essays provides several perspectives from differing fields and expertise areas. A number of common themes emerge. These can be summarized as follows:

• Top-down approaches are not enough. National and international economic and governance strategies are not resolving major challenges in a timely manner. Climate change and many other problems are getting worse. Reductionistic economic and political systems are the root causes of major challenges. Improving them through top-down and bottom-up approaches is essential. Many of the authors discuss the need for fundamental structural and systemic change.
• Several authors discuss the essential role of arts and culture in societal transformation. Suggested approaches include: critically addressing destructive social narratives that perpetuate flawed systems and harmful consumerism; using arts and cultural action to mobilize social movements; developing culture and arts-based approaches for driving widespread consciousness and behavioral change; and employing dialogic processes and localized action.
• Fundamental change to economic and financial system is essential for genuine social transformation. To resolve socio-economic inequality and ecological decline, the authors discuss different aspects of system change in economics, redistribution of resources and new financial mechanisms.
• Deep systemic change of educational systems is essential. Long-term solutions seek to achieve a sustainable and truly prosperous society, for example, by ‘re-architecting knowledge’ and fostering new values and behaviors.

In line with the above themes, new ‘literacies’, skills and capacities are emerging that will facilitate a coherent and coordinated global movement for systemic change. These include ‘transformation literacy’, ‘structural literacy’, ‘collaboration literacy’ and ‘integral capacities’. The authors discuss these literacies and other tools needed to facilitate effective societal transformation.

In summary, the interconnected nature of global crises demands a new kind of thinking and action. To provide this, the authors discuss many aspects of whole system thinking and holistic worldviews, including aligning human systems and society with the laws of nature.

• Rockström, J, & Steffen, W et al (2009) Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society, 14 (2), 32. doi: 10.5751/ES-03180-140232
• Steffen, W & Morgan, J (2021) From the Paris agreement to the Anthropocene and planetary boundaries framework: An interview with Will Steffen. Globalizations, 1-3. doi: 10.1080/14747731.2021.1940070

The essays address many societal transformation issues, ranging from higher-level, whole system concepts and approaches to more specific transformation themes and strategies.

Essay 1 : Frank Dixon – Global System Change: A Whole System Approach to Societal Transformation

Essay 2 : Garry Jacobs – Process of Social Transformation

Essay 3 : Mariana Bozesan – An Integral Approach to Social Transformation

Essay 4 : Petra Kuenkel – Transformation Literacy as a Collective Stewardship Task

Essay 5 : Piero Dominici – From Below: Roots and Grassroots of Societal Transformation, The Social Construction of Change

Essay 6 : Thomas Reuter – Transformations to Sustainability: Why integrated social change requires a political process based on inclusive communication

Essay 7 : Barry Gills & S. A. Hamed Hosseini – Transversalism and transformative praxes: Globalization from below

Essay 8 : Alberto Zucconi – Effective tools for promoting change in complex and interrelated realities

Essay 9 : Janani Ramanathan – Systemic Change through a new Paradigm in Global Education

Essay 10 : Benno Werlen – What Constitutes Societal Transformation?

Essay 11 : Jay Bragdon – The Emerging Economic Renaissance

Societal Transformation  Conclusions

About the Author(s)

• Transdisciplinary theory

Volume 4 Issue 5

Inside this Issue

A New Paradigm in Global Higher Education - Garry Jacobs et al

Knowledge Generation and Interdisciplinarity - Juri Engelbrecht & Robert Kitt

Global Governance for the 21 st century - Mamphela Ramphele

Achieving Global Justice, Security and Sustainability: Compassion as a Transformative Method - Thomas Reuter

The Jena Declaration - Thomas Reuter

Our Common Agenda - Michael Marien

Youth Groups: A Quick Look at International Organizations - Marta Neškovic & Ivana Lazarovski

Repurposing Economies - Petra Kuenkel

Environmental Justice and Equity - Ash Pachauri et al.

Climate & Ecological Emergencies demand a New Paradigm - Barry Gills & Jamie Morgan

Terrorism, Security & Democracy - Rama Mani

A Global Culture of Peace - Shoshana Bekerman

The Silent Revolution - Robert van Harten

Reconciling Individualism & Collectivism - Ashok Natarajan

11 Essays on Societal Transformation (ST) - WAAS ST Working Group

Global System Change: A Whole System Approach to Societal Transformation - Frank Dixon

Process of Social Transformation - Garry Jacobs

An Integral Approach to Social Transformation - Mariana Bozesan

Transformation Literacy as a Collective Stewardship Task - Petra Kuenkel

From Below: Roots and Grassroots of Societal Transformation, The Social Construction of Change - Piero Dominici

Transformations to Sustainability - Thomas Reuter

Transversalism and transformative praxes: Globalization from below - Barry Gills & S. A. Hamed Hosseini

Effective tools for promoting change in complex and interrelated realities - Alberto Zucconi

Systemic Change through a new Paradigm in Global Education - Janani Ramanathan

What Constitutes Societal Transformation? - Benno Werlen

The Emerging Economic Renaissance - Jay Bragdon Conclusions

Art + Science + Policy - Robert Horn

Click here to download Volume 4 Issue 5

The Messy Middle by Ellen Jackson

What does it take to change the world?

Hero status and plenty of questions....

‘What drives busy, passionate people to do more? To put in the extra effort to improve the world for others? Why bother when there is already so much to do?’

Last week I completed my three-month Social Impact Fellowship with the Social Impact Hub . When I applied for the Fellowship early in 2024 I was still employed and wondered how I would squeeze the three to four additional hours of learning and project work into my already busy week.

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I needn’t have worried.

Not only was I not employed by the time the Fellowship started in March, the content we covered (understanding, designing and funding impact) perfectly aligned with my first big project back as a self-employed consultant. I was exploring as I implemented. The perfect way to learn.

Fellows joined from across Australia, two to three times per week. The content was delivered online, via Zoom sessions peppered with ‘breakout room’ conversations. We explored everything from Leadership in Social Change, to Impact Measurement to Diversifying Revenue. The lessons were fast-paced and provided a great introduction for a newbie like me.

But it was the people who brought the experience to life. My fellow Fellows, and the experts we learned from, are change makers . They are learners and disruptors and entrepreneurs and doers. They are passionate about creating change to make the world a better place, through social enterprise, research, community development, philanthropy, not-for-profits, education, communication, governance, finance and so much more.

Put people like this together and the curiosity, creativity, collaboration, drive, grit and kindness that emerges is infectious. You want to join them. You want to make a difference. Everything feels possible.

For me, emerging from an environment in which change and progress was often a slog, this was a buzz.

When a few of us came together over drinks in Collingwood last week to celebrate our learning, share our zest for possibility (and meet face-to-face), we couldn’t help but ask, ‘What drives busy, passionate people to do more? To put in the extra effort to improve the world for others? Why bother when there is already so much to do?’

This is no small question. The work to change systems and structures is messy and uncertain and difficult. It requires collaboration, compromise and courage. It’s rarely accompanied by neatly packaged job descriptions and commensurate remuneration. You spend a lot of time in the ‘grey’. There is no path, no map and it’s often lonely. What drives people to persist in these circumstances?

We didn’t arrive at an answer, of course, but it got me thinking. What do I know, as a psychologist, about the forces that drive people to persist in the face of challenge? To do more, even when it’s difficult. To challenge, innovate, create and disrupt in pursuit of a better world? What’s going on there?

As happens, serendipity intervened* and I stumbled across an article about Psychological Capital . I’d done some work exploring Psychological Capital - ‘PsyCap’ - in organisational settings years ago but had largely forgotten about it as other ideas in positive psychology emerged and my career pivoted to new places.

But suddenly PsyCap and the role of our psychological resources in driving success flashed in neon before me (figuratively at least).

Here’s how it works…

Imagine that your mind is like a toolbox. In this toolbox, you have various tools, or ‘psychological resources,’ that help you deal with life's challenges and achieve your goals. Just like a handyman needs a well-equipped toolbox to fix problems, we all need a variety of mental tools to handle different situations effectively.

Psychological Capital is a collection of four essential tools in your mental toolbox: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism (HERO).

Hope is the belief that you can achieve goals and overcome obstacles through perseverance and a clear vision. We refer to it as ‘the will’ and ‘the way’.

Efficacy is confidence in your ability to complete tasks and achieve desired outcomes.

Resilience is the ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity, setbacks, or failures.

Optimism is a positive outlook on life and the expectation that good things will happen.

We can each be measured as ‘high’, ‘low’ or somewhere in between on PsyCap and its HERO components but what’s most exciting about this concept is that it is developable. We can grow our Psychological Capital, just as you can grow financial, social or other forms of capital.

Most of the research on PsyCap to date has explored its role in workplace and organisational outcomes such as job satisfaction, productivity, performance and wellbeing. Individuals ‘high’ in PsyCap tend to rate ‘high’ on each of these dimensions too. The research suggests that psychological capital helps us to feel more confident, stay motivated, adapt to change, and maintain a positive outlook, even when things get tough. We can develop it in ourselves and others through coaching, role modelling, feedback, acknowledgement and psychoeducational programs.

There’s no research that I can find that directly links Psychological Capital to the attributes of those working in the Social Impact sector. Are high ‘PsyCap’ people drawn to the field’s challenges? Does the nature of the sector promote PsyCap in those who immerse themselves in it? Is there an interactive effect with one bouncing off and building upon the other? (There’s a PhD in there somewhere for someone.)

What excites me most about PsyCap and social impact is that the challenges addressed by the sector reflect the challenges we face in the world. How do we navigate climate change? How do we address social inequality? How do we support and promote mental health? How do we ensure future generations are ready for the future, and address the needs of underserved populations? How can technological innovation be leveraged to promote positive change?

If those working together to create positive change in the world are high in Hope, Efficacy, Resilience and Optimism and this helps them to muddle through the messiness, to collaborate, to persist, to question, to try, to fail and to learn - what can other fields learn from this? And what does the social impact sector need to do to ensure that those with these attributes continue to thrive?

If the experience of exploring together and innovating and persevering in the face of challenge to create impact helps us to build psychological capital - what can we learn from that?

What can leaders, across all sectors, learn about the antecedents and outcomes of psychological capital? What should they do to cultivate more of it, if that is what’s required to make positive change in workplaces and the world? And how can for-profit and for-purpose organisations collaborate to find solutions to the world’s challenges while also promoting the growth and wellbeing of the people who work for them?

As usual I am faced with more questions than answers, but as I explore a field that’s new to me I am inspired by the people, the work and the possibilities. There are burgeoning conversations and collaborations and initiatives, all seeking to do better and be better, for other people and the planet.

I don’t know where my curiosity will take me with my shiny new status as a Social Impact Fellow, but I’ll stay open to possibilities, work with discomfort and connect with others to explore and find my place. It will be messy and take time but what better way to build my own HERO status?

Stay tuned for more.

Onwards and upwards,

*This is more likely to be the salience effect at play.

The Fun Stuff :

I’m watching … Evil , the fourth and final season. If you were a fan of the X-Files back in the day, this is for you.

I’m reading … The Leaders Ecosystem: A guide to leading, exceptionally by Dr Paige Williams. Paige was my guest on the Potential Psychology Podcast a couple of years ago, talking about Becoming Antifragile. Her new book explores ideas and frameworks helpful for leaders to successfully navigate the systems they operate in.

I’m listening to … Finneas , Olivia Rodrigo and my comfort listening, George Michael (still in mourning *sigh*)

Ready for more?

You are now being redirected to mayfile.online....

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world. -Alfred, Lord Tennyson

IMAGINE A NEWER WORLD: A Vision of a Nature-Rich Future, One We Can Create Together

This essay, which I sometimes share in my speeches, appeared in longer form in the 2012 paperback edition of “The Nature Principle.” In April 2017, in Vancouver B.C., at the Children & Nature Network’s International Conference, 864 delegates from 22 countries moved us a few steps closer to creating a nature-rich future. We’d love to hear your thoughts about what that future could be.

I magine a newer world.

A world in which all children grow up with a deep understanding of the life around them. Where all of us know the animals and plants of our own backyards as well as we know the televised Amazon rainforest, or better. Where the more high-tech our lives become, the more we experience nature in our lives. Where we come to all our senses, including our sense of humility. Where we feel more alive.

We seek a newer world where we not only conserve nature, but create it where we live, work, learn and play. Where yards and open spaces are alive with native species. Where bird and butterfly migration routes are healed by human care. Where wildlife (and childlife) corridors in every city serve as the bronchial and arterial passages of life and meaning. Where we transform public and private property, garden to garden, yard to yard, into a homegrown national park — and beyond that into a worldwide homegrown park.

Imagine a newer world where nature-rich cities serve as engines of biodiversity. Where decaying suburbs and inner-city neighborhoods and redundant, aging shopping malls are transformed into nature-rich ecovillages.

Where empty lots and green roofs become natural play spaces and community gardens. Where skyscrapers become vertical farms, with spirals and decks that produce food and enrich the health of people and other animals. Where, through biophilic design, built environments not only conserve energy but produce their own energy, including human energy — in the forms of higher productivity, creativity and health.

Where every hospital offers a healing garden, and pediatricians and other health professionals prescribe nature. Where park rangers become para-health professionals. Where antidepressants and pharmaceuticals are needed less and nature prescribed more. Where obesity – of children and adults – is reduced through nature play.

A newer world where the point of education is not rote and drill, but wonder and awe. Where education uses the power of the natural world to stimulate our ability to learn and create. Where “hybrid minds” are nurtured, amplifying the sensory and creative benefits of both virtual and natural experience.

Where every school has a natural space where children experience the joy of learning through play once again. Where teachers are encouraged to take their students on field trips to the nearby woods and canyons and streams and shores. Where educators feel their own sense of hope and excitement returning to their profession and to their own hearts.

Imagine a world where connecting people to nature becomes a growth industry. Where new businesses transform our homes, our workplaces, our lives, through nature. Where every regional economic study includes the measurable and immeasurable worth of watersheds and natural systems, and the restorative and healing powers of the natural world.

A newer world where children and adults feel a deep sense of identity with the bioregions in which they live. Where natural history becomes as important as human history to our regional and personal identities; where hstory is defined less by the battle of war and more by the stories of our kinship.

Where humans and other animals no longer live in oppostion. Where human-nature social capital enriches our daily lives, and where, as a species, we no longer feel so alone.

A world where children experience the joy of being in nature before they learn of its loss, where they can lie in the grass on a hillside for hours and watch clouds become the faces of the future.

Where every child and every adult has a human  right  to a connection to the natural world, and shares the responsibility for caring for it. Where  every  child regardless of race or economic status or gender or sexual identity or set of abilities has the opportunity to help create that nature-rich future.

Imagine a world where the strength of our spirit is not measured by the specificity of our language, but by the care and kinship we share with each other and with our fellow species on this Earth.

A world in which our last days are lived in the arms of mother nature, of land and sky, water and soil, wind and sea. A newer world we seek and to which we return.

Commentaries on the C&NN website are offered to share diverse points-of-view from the global children and nature movement and to encourage new thinking and debate. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of C&NN. C&NN does not officially endorse every statement, report or product mentioned.

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Richard Louv is Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Children & Nature Network, an organization supporting the international movement to connect children, their families and their communities to the natural world. He is the author of ten books, including “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” “The Nature Principle,” and “Vitamin N.” His newest book is “Our Wild Calling: How Connecting to Animals Can Transform Our Lives — and Save Theirs.” In 2008, he was awarded the Audubon Medal. He speaks frequently around the country and internationally.

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Resources for a Newer World

• A FIELD GUIDE TO THE NEW NATURE MOVEMENT
• CHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK’S RESEARCH LIBRARY
• C&NN’s GREEN SCHOOLYARDS INITIATIVE
• C&NN’S NATURAL FAMILIES NETWORK
• BIOPHILIC CITIES PROJECT
• 8 80 CITIES

More reading

RESTORING PEACE: Six Ways Nature in Our Lives Can Reduce the Violence in Our World

• LET’S CREATE A WORLDWIDE HOMEGROWN PARK
• WE’RE RICH (IN NATURE)! by Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times

Child born of the woods

Reviving wellness through nature: a youth’s journey to recovery, rich soil: the economic benefits of green schoolyards, leveling the playing field: nature play for gender equity, what is nature-deficit disorder, stay inspired: subscribe.

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The New Nature Movement Isn’t About Going Back to Nature, but Forward to a Nature-Rich Civilization

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• Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein ( 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 ) was a German-born theoretical physicist , widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time. Einstein is known for developing the theory of relativity , but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics . Together, relativity and quantum mechanics are the two pillars of modern physics . He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect .

• 1.3.1 Principles of Research (1918)
• 1.4.1 Sidelights on Relativity (1922)
• 1.4.2 Viereck interview (1929)
• 1.5.1 Wisehart interview (1930)
• 1.5.2 Religion and Science (1930)
• 1.5.3 What I Believe (1930)
• 1.5.4 Mein Weltbild (My World-view) (1931)
• 1.5.5 My Credo (1932)
• 1.5.6 (1933)
• 1.5.7 (1934)
• 1.5.8 Obituary for Emmy Noether (1935)
• 1.5.9 Why Do They Hate the Jews (1938)
• 1.6.1 Science and Religion (1941)
• 1.6.2 Only Then Shall We Find Courage (1946)
• 1.6.3 Religion and Science: Irreconcilable? (1948)
• 1.6.4 "Autobiographical Notes" (1949)
• 1.6.5 "Einstein's Reply to Criticisms" (1949)
• 1.6.6 The World As I See It (1949)
• 1.6.7 Why Socialism? (1949)
• 1.7.1 On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation (1950)
• 1.7.2 Out of My Later Years (1950)
• 1.7.3 Essay to Leo Baeck (1953)
• 1.7.5 Russell–Einstein Manifesto (1955)
• 1.8.1 Albert Einstein: The Human Side (1979)
• 1.8.2 Albert Einstein: A guide for the perplexed (1979)
• 1.8.3 Einstein and the Poet (1983)
• 1.8.4 Einstein's God (1997)
• 1.8.5 Einstein and Religion (1999)
• 3 Misattributed
• 4 "Never Share These Five Things with Anyone" misattributions on youtube
• 5 Quotes about Einstein
• 7 External links

• A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.
• From "Mes Projets d'Avenir", a French essay written at age 17 for a school exam (18 September 1896). The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein Vol. 1 (1987) Doc. 22.

• Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
• Letter to Jost Winteler (July 8th, 1901), quoted in The Private Lives of Albert Einstein by Roger Highfields and Paul Carter (1993), p. 79 . Einstein had been annoyed that Paul Drude , editor of Annalen der Physik , had dismissed some criticisms Einstein made of Drude's electron theory of metals.
• Dear Habicht, / Such a solemn air of silence has descended between us that I almost feel as if I am committing a sacrilege when I break it now with some inconsequential babble... / What are you up to, you frozen whale, you smoked, dried, canned piece of soul...?
• Opening of a letter to his friend Conrad Habicht in which he describes his four revolutionary Annus Mirabilis papers (18 or 25 May 1905) Doc. 27
• The equivalence of mass and energy was originally expressed by the equation m = L/c² , which easily translates into the far more well-known E = mc² in Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content? published in the Annalen der Physik (27 September 1905) : "If a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by L/c²."
• Atomic Physics (1948) by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, Ltd. ( Voice of A. Einstein. )
• Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig? ("Does the inertia of a body depend upon its energy content?")
• Annalen der Physik 18 , 639-641 (1905). Quoted in Concepts of Mass in Classical and Modern Physics by Max Jammer (1961), p. 177
• Statement of the equivalence principle in Yearbook of Radioactivity and Electronics (1907)

• 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. We see him only the way a louse sitting upon him would.
• Letter to Heinrich Zangger (10 March 1914), quoted in The Curious History of Relativity by Jean Eisenstaedt (2006), p. 126 .
• Variant: "Nature shows us only the tail of the lion. But I do not doubt that the lion belongs to it even though he cannot at once reveal himself because of his enormous size." As quoted by Abraham Pais in Subtle is the Lord:The Science and Life of Albert Einstein (1982), p. 235 ISBN 0-192-80672-6
• In living through this "great epoch," it is difficult to reconcile oneself to the fact that one belongs to that mad, degenerate species that boasts of its free will. How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will! In such a place even I should be an ardent patriot!
• Letter to Paul Ehrenfest , early December 1914. Collected Papers of Albert Einstein , Vol. 8, Doc. 39. Quoted in The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2005), p. 3
• It's convenient with that fellow Einstein, every year he retracts what he wrote the year before.
• Letter to Paul Ehrenfest, 26 December 1915. Collected Papers of Albert Einstein , Vol. 8, Doc. 173.
• Obituary for physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach ( Nachruf auf Ernst Mach ), Physikalische Zeitschrift 17 (1916), p. 101
• Relativity – The Special and General Theory (1916), Part I: The Special Theory of Relativity, Experience and the Special Theory of Relativity
• Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal.
• Letter to Heinrich Zangger (1917), as quoted in A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit by Alan Lightman (2005), p. 110 , and in Albert Einstein: A Biography by Albrecht Fölsing (1997), p. 399
• Sometimes paraphrased as "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
• (1917) as quoted by Gerald Holton , The Advancement of Science, and Its Burdens: the Jefferson Lecture and Other Essays (1986)
• I have also considered many scientific plans during my pushing you around in your pram!
• Letter to his son Hans Albert Einstein (June 1918)
• Make a lot of walks to get healthy and don't read that much but save yourself some until you're grown up.
• Letter to his son Eduard Einstein (June 1918)
• Letter to Eduard Study, 25 Sept. 1918, in the Einstein Archive, Hebrew U., Jerusalem; translation in D. Howard, Perspectives on Science 1 , 225 (1993).
• Letter to Max Born, 1918, from The Born-Einstein Letters: Friendship, Politics and Physics in Uncertain Times, Macmillan (2005 edition), pg 7.
• Dear mother! Today a joyful notice. H. A. Lorentz has telegraphed me that the English expeditions have really proven the deflection of light at the sun.
• Postcard to his mother Pauline Einstein (1919)
• By an application of the theory of relativity to the taste of readers, today in Germany I am called a German man of science, and in England I am represented as a Swiss Jew. If I come to be represented as a bête noire, the descriptions will be reversed, and I shall become a Swiss Jew for the Germans and a German man of science for the English!
• " Einstein On His Theory ", The Times (London), 28 November 1919   , quoted in Herman Bernstein: Celebrities of Our Time. New York 1924. p. 267 ( archive.org ). Einstein's original German text in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein . Volume 7. Doc. 25 p. 210, and at germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org after Albert Einstein, Mein Weltbild. Amsterdam: Querido Verlag, 1934, pp. 220-28. Manuscript at alberteinstein.info .

Principles of Research (1918)

• In the temple of science are many mansions, and various indeed are they that dwell therein and the motives that have led them thither. Many take to science out of a joyful sense of superior intellectual power; science is their own special sport to which they look for vivid experience and the satisfaction of ambition; many others are to be found in the temple who have offered the products of their brains on this altar for purely utilitarian purposes. Were an angel of the Lord to come and drive all the people belonging to these two categories 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. Our Planck is one of them, and that is why we love him. I am quite aware that we have just now lightheartedly expelled in imagination many excellent men who are largely, perhaps chiefly, responsible for the buildings of the temple of science; and in many cases, our angel would find it a pretty ticklish job to decide. But of one thing I feel sure: if the types we have just expelled were the only types there were, the temple would never have come to be, any more than a forest can grow which consists of nothing but creepers. For these people any sphere of human activity will do if it comes to a point; whether they become engineers, officers, tradesmen, or scientists depends on circumstances. Now let us have another look at those who have found favor with the angel. Most of them are somewhat odd, uncommunicative, solitary fellows, really less like each other, in spite of these common characteristics, than the hosts of the rejected. What has brought them to the temple? That is a difficult question and no single answer will cover it.
• The state of mind which enables a man to do work of this kind is akin to that of the religious worshiper or the lover; the daily effort comes from no deliberate intention or program, but straight from the heart.
• Variant translation: 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 objective perception and thought. With this negative motive goes a positive one. Man seeks to form for himself, in whatever manner is suitable for him, a simplified and lucid image of the world, and so to overcome the world of experience by striving to replace it to some extent by this image. This is what the painter does, and the poet, the speculative philosopher, the natural scientist, each in his own way. Into this image and its formation, he places the center of gravity of his emotional life, in order to attain the peace and serenity that he cannot find within the narrow confines of swirling personal experience.
• As quoted in The Professor, the Institute, and DNA (1976) by Rene Dubos; also in The Great Influenza (2004) by John M. Barry
• But what can be the attraction of getting to know such a tiny section of nature thoroughly, while one leaves everything subtler and more complex shyly and timidly alone? Does the product of such a modest effort deserve to be called by the proud name of a theory of the universe? In my belief the name is justified; for the general laws on which the structure of theoretical physics is based claim to be valid for any natural phenomenon whatsoever. With them, it ought to be possible to arrive at the description, that is to say, the theory, of every natural process, including life, by means of pure deduction, if that process of deduction were not far beyond the capacity of the human intellect. The physicist's renunciation of completeness for his cosmos is therefore not a matter of fundamental principle.
• Variant, from Preface to Max Planck 's Where is Science Going? (1933): The supreme task of the physicist is the discovery of the most general elementary laws from which the world-picture can be deduced logically. But there is no logical way to the discovery of these elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance, and this Einfühlung [literally, empathy or 'feeling one's way in']' is developed by experience.

• How much do I love that noble man More than I could tell with words I fear though he'll remain alone With a holy halo of his own.
• Poem by Einstein on Spinoza (1920), as quoted in Einstein and Religion by Max Jammer, Princeton UP 1999 , p. 43; original German manuscript: "Zu Spinozas Ethik" .
• On the irrelevance of the luminiferous aether hypothesis to physical measurements, in an address at the University of Leiden (5 May 1920)
• Letter to Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, 3 [5] April 1920, as quoted in Alice Calaprice, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein (2010), p. 195; citing Israelitisches Wochenblatt , 42 September 1920, The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Vol. 7, Doc. 37, and Vol. 9, Doc 368.
• No fairer destiny could be allotted to any physical theory, than that it should of itself point out the way to the introduction of a more comprehensive theory, in which it lives on as a limiting case.
• Über die spezielle und die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie (1920) Tr. Robert W. Lawson, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (1920) pp. 90-91.
• Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.
• Remark made during Einstein's first visit to Princeton University (April 1921) as quoted in Einstein (1973) by R. W. Clark, Ch. 14. "God is slick, but he ain't mean" is a variant translation of this (1946) Unsourced variant: "God is subtle but he is not malicious."
• Originally said to Princeton University mathematics professor Oscar Veblen, May 1921, while Einstein was in Princeton for a series of lectures, upon hearing that an experimental result by Dayton C. Miller of Cleveland, if true, would contradict his theory of gravitation. But the claimed discrepancy was quite small and required special circumstances (hence Einsteins's remark). The result turned out to be false. Some say by this remark Einstein meant that Nature hides her secrets by being subtle, while others say he meant that nature is mischievous but not bent on trickery. [The Yale Book of Quotations, ed. Fred R. Shapiro, 2006]
• As quoted in Cherished Illusions (2005) by Sarah Stern, p. 109
• I have second thoughts. Maybe God is malicious .
• Said to Valentine Bargmann , as quoted in Einstein in America (1985) by Jamie Sayen, p. 51, indicating that God leads people to believe they understand things that they actually are far from understanding; also in The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), ed. Fred R. Shapiro
• From the story "The Progress of Science" in The Scientific Monthly edited by J. McKeen Cattell ( June 1921 ), Vol. XII, No. 6. The story says that the comments were made at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences at the National Museum in Washington on April 25, 26, and 27. Einstein's comments appear on p. 579 , though the story may be paraphrasing rather than directly quoting since it says "In reply Professor Einstein in substance said" the quote above.
• In response to not knowing the speed of sound as included in the Edison Test: New York Times (18 May 1921); Einstein: His Life and Times (1947) Philipp Frank, p. 185; Einstein, A Life (1996) by Denis Brian, p. 129; "Einstein Due Today" (February 2005) edited by József Illy, Manuscript 25-32 of the Einstein Paper Project; all previous sources as per Einstein His Life and Universe (2007) by Walter Isaacson, p. 299
• Unsourced variants: "I never commit to memory anything that can easily be looked up in a book" and "Never memorize what you can look up in books." (The second version is found in "Recording the Experience" (10 June 2004) at The Library of Congress , but no citation to Einstein's writings is given).
• In so far as theories of mathematics speak about reality, they are not certain, and in so far as they are certain, they do not speak about reality.
• Geometrie and Erfahrung (1921) pp. 3-4 link.springer.com as cited by Karl Popper , The Two Fundamental Problems of the Theory of Knowledge (2014) Tr. Andreas Pickel, Ed. Troels Eggers Hansen.
• Einstein in his Kyoto address (14 December 1922), talking about the events of "probably the 2nd or 3rd weeks" of October 1907, quoted in Why Did Einstein Put So Much Emphasis on the Equivalence Principle? by Dr. Robert J. Heaston in Equivalence Principle – April 2008 (15th NPA Conference) who cites A. Einstein. "How I Constructed the Theory of Relativity," Translated by Masahiro Morikawa from the text recorded in Japanese by Jun Ishiwara, Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS) Bulletin, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 17-19 (April 2005)
• How I Created the Theory of Relativity , speech at Kyoto University, Japan, December 14, 1922, as cited in Physics Today , August, 1982.
• Comment made after a six-week trip to Japan in November-December 1922, published in Kaizo 5, no. 1 (January 1923), 339. Einstein Archive 36-477.1. Appears in The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2005), p. 269
• Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the "old one." I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.
• Letter to Max Born (4 December 1926); The Born-Einstein Letters (translated by Irene Born) (Walker and Company, New York, 1971) ISBN 0-8027-0326-7 .
• Einstein himself used variants of this quote at other times. For example, in a 1943 conversation with William Hermanns recorded in Hermanns' book Einstein and the Poet , Einstein said: "As I have said so many times, God doesn't play dice with the world." ( p. 58 )
• Objecting to the placing of observables at the heart of the new quantum mechanics, during Heisenberg's 1926 lecture at Berlin; related by Heisenberg, quoted in Unification of Fundamental Forces (1990) by Abdus Salam ISBN 0521371406
• p. 157 London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
• Response to atheist Alfred Kerr in the winter of 1927, who after deriding ideas of God and religion at a dinner party in the home of the publisher Samuel Fischer , had queried him "I hear that you are supposed to be deeply religious" as quoted in The Diary of a Cosmopolitan (1971) by H. G. Kessler
• I believe in Spinoza 's God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.
• 24 April 1929 in response to the telegrammed question of New York's Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein: "Do you believe in God? Stop. Answer paid 50 words." Einstein replied in only 27 (German) words. The New York Times 25 April 1929
• As quoted in Einstein : Science and Religion by Arnold V. Lesikar
• Said to Samuel J Woolf, Berlin, Summer 1929. Cited with additional notes in The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice and Freeman Dyson , Princeton UP (2010) p 230
• As quoted in [Albert Einstein, Letter "Einstein in Singapore." Manchester Guardian, October 12, 1929]

Sidelights on Relativity (1922)

• How can it be that mathematics, being, after all, a product of human thought which is independent of experience, is so admirably appropriate to the objects of reality? Is human reason, then, without experience, merely by taking thought, able to fathom the properties of real things?
• One reason why mathematics enjoys special esteem, above all other sciences, is that its laws are absolutely certain and indisputable, while those of other sciences are to some extent debatable and in constant danger of being overthrown by newly discovered facts.

Viereck interview (1929)

• The meaning of relativity has been widely misunderstood. Philosophers play with the word, like a child with a doll. Relativity, as I see it, merely denotes that certain physical and mechanical facts, which have been regarded as positive and permanent, are relative with regard to certain other facts in the sphere of physics and mechanics. It does not mean that everything in life is relative and that we have the right to turn the whole world mischievously topsy-turvy.
• No man can visualize four dimensions, except mathematically ... I think in four dimensions, but only abstractly. The human mind can picture these dimensions no more than it can envisage electricity. Nevertheless, they are no less real than electro-magnetism, the force which controls our universe, within, and by which we have our being.
• Quoted in The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2010), p. 230
• I refuse to make money out of my science. My laurel is not for sale like so many bales of cotton.
• If I was not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I cannot tell if I would have done any creative work of importance in music, but I do know that I get most joy in life out of my violin.
• Reading after a certain age diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking , just as the man who spends too much time in the theater is tempted to be content with living vicariously instead of living his own life.
• Our time is Gothic in its spirit. Unlike the Renaissance, it is not dominated by a few outstanding personalities. The twentieth century has established the democracy of the intellect. In the republic of art and science, there are many men who take an equally important part in the intellectual movements of our age. It is the epoch rather than the individual that is important. There is no one dominant personality like Galileo or Newton. Even in the nineteenth century, there were still a few giants who outtopped all others. Today the general level is much higher than ever before in the history of the world, but there are few men whose stature immediately sets them apart from all others.
• In America, more than anywhere else, the individual is lost in the achievements of the many. America is beginning to be the world leader in a scientific investigation. American scholarship is both patient and inspiring. The Americans show an unselfish devotion to science, which is the very opposite of the conventional European view of your countrymen. Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves. It is not true that the dollar is an American fetish. The American student is not interested in dollars, not even in success as such, but in his task, the object of the search. It is his painstaking application to the study of the infinitely little and the infinitely large which accounts for his success in astronomy.
• We are inclined to overemphasize the material influences in history. The Russians especially make this mistake. Intellectual values and ethnic influences, tradition and emotional factors are equally important. If this were not the case, Europe would today be a federated state, not a madhouse of nationalism.
• Quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, p. 387
• I believe with Schopenhauer : We can do what we wish, but we can only wish what we must. Practically, I am, nevertheless, compelled to act as if freedom of the will existed. If I wish to live in a civilized community, I must act as if man is a responsible being. I know that philosophically a murderer is not responsible for his crime; nevertheless, I must protect myself from unpleasant contacts. I may consider him guiltless, but I prefer not to take tea with him.
• My own career was undoubtedly determined, not by my own will but by various factors over which I have no control—primarily those mysterious glands in which Nature prepares the very essence of life, our internal secretions.
• Whereas materialistic historians and philosophers neglect psychic realities, Freud is inclined to overstress their importance. I am not a psychologist, but it seems to me fairly evident that physiological factors, especially our endocrines, control our destiny ... I am not able to venture a judgment on so important a phase of modern thought. However, it seems to me that psychoanalysis is not always salutary. It may not always be helpful to delve into the subconscious. The machinery of our legs is controlled by a hundred different muscles. Do you think it would help us to walk if we analyzed our legs and knew exactly which one of the little muscles must be employed in locomotion and the order in which they work? ... I am not prepared to accept all his [Freud's] conclusions, but I consider his work an immensely valuable contribution to the science of human behavior. I think he is even greater as a writer than as a psychologist. Freud's brilliant style is unsurpassed by anyone since Schopenhauer.
• The only progress I can see is progress in the organization. The ordinary human being does not live long enough to draw any substantial benefit from his own experience. And no one, it seems, can benefit by the experiences of others. Being both a father and teacher, I know we can teach our children nothing. We can transmit to them neither our knowledge of life nor of mathematics. Each must learn its lesson anew.
• I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am. When two expeditions of scientists, financed by the Royal Academy, went forth to test my theory of relativity, I was convinced that their conclusions would tally with my hypothesis. I was not surprised when the eclipse of May 29, 1919, confirmed my intuitions. I would have been surprised if I had been wrong.
• I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
• As a child, I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.
• Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrasemongers, however artful. No man can dispose of Christianity with a bon mot .
• As reported in Einstein — A Life (1996) by Denis Brian, when asked about a clipping from a magazine article reporting his comments on Christianity as taken down by Viereck, Einstein carefully read the clipping and replied, " That is what I believe." .
• When asked by Viereck if he considered himself to be a German or a Jew. A version with slightly different wording is quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (2007), p. 386
• We Jews have been too adaptable. We have been too eager to sacrifice our idiosyncrasies for the sake of social conformity. ... Even in modern civilization, the Jew is most happy if he remains a Jew.
• In response to a question about whether religion is the tie holding the Jews together.
• But to return to the Jewish question. Other groups and nations cultivate their individual traditions. There is no reason why we should sacrifice ours. Standardization robs life of its spice. To deprive every ethnic group of its special traditions is to convert the world into a huge Ford plant. I believe in standardizing automobiles. I do not believe in standardizing human beings. Standardization is a great peril which threatens American culture.
• I am happy because I want nothing from anyone. I do not care about money. Decorations, titles or distinctions mean nothing to me. I do not crave praise. The only thing that gives me pleasure, apart from my work, my violin, and my sailboat, is the appreciation of my fellow workers.
• I claim credit for nothing. Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.
• Did not appear in Saturday Evening Post story, but in Glimpses of the Great (1930) by G. S. Viereck. There have been disputes on the accuracy of this quotation.
• Sometimes misquoted as "I don't think I can call myself a pantheist".
• Variant, from Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, p. 386: I'm not an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written these books. It does not know-how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws.
• Did not appear in the Saturday Evening Post story, but quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, p. 387, in the section discussing Viereck's interview.

• Letter to his son Eduard (5 February 1930), as quoted in Walter Isaacson , Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007), p. 367
• Interview with Rabindranath Tagore (14 April 1930), published in The Religion of Man (1930) by Rabindranath Tagore, p. 222, and in The Tagore Reader (1971) edited by Amiya Chakravarty
• Attributed in The Encarta Book of Quotations to an interview on the Belgenland (December 1930), which was the ship on which he arrived in New York that month. According to The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2010), p. 18 , the quote also appears as "Aphorism, 1945-1946" in the Einstein Archives 36-570. Calaprice speculates that "perhaps it was recalled later and inserted into the archives under the later date." According to a snippet on Google Books, the phrase '"I never think of the future," he said. "It comes soon enough."' appears in The Literary Digest: Volume 107 on p. 29, in an article titled "We May Not 'Get' Relativity, But We Like Einstein" from 27 December 1930 . The snippet also discusses the "welcome to Professor Einstein on the Belgenland " in New York
• From a speech in the Royal Albert Hall, “Science and Civilization,” October 3, 1933. Published in 1934 as “Europe’s Danger—Europe’s Hope.”
• From a letter to Hermann Huth, Vice-President of the German Vegetarian Federation, 27 December 1930. Supposedly published in German magazine Vegetarische Warte , which existed from 1882 to 1935. Einstein Archive 46-756. Quoted in The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2011), p. 453 . ISBN 978-0-691-13817-6
• "Science and Dictatorship," in Dictatorship on Its Trial, by Eminent Leaders of Modern Thought (1930) - later as Dictatorship on Trial (1931), Otto Forst de Battaglia (1889-1965), ed., Huntley Paterson, trans., introduction by Winston Churchill , George G. Harrap & Co., (Reprinted 1977, Beaufort Books Inc., ISBN 0836916077 ISBN 9780836916072 p. 107. [1] [2] [3] [4] Original text of this "nineteen word essay" appears under the German title, "Wissenschaft und Diktatur" in Prozess der Diktatur (1930), Otto Forst de Battaglia (1889-1965), ed., Amalthea-Verlag, p.108. [5]
• First sentence of " Maxwells Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der Auffassung des Physikalisch-Realen ". Manuscript at the Hebrew University Jerusalem alberteinstein.info
• The belief in an external world independent of the perceiving subject is the basis of all natural science.
• From "Maxwell's Influence on the Evolution of the Idea of Physical Reality," 1931. Available in Einstein Archives: 65-382
• From a letter by Albert Einstein to Professor Chaim Tchernowitz (31 December 1930) of the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York (Hebrew Union College). Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Jewish Daily Bulletin)
• Speech to students at the California Institute of Technology, in "Einstein Sees Lack in Applying Science" , The New York Times (16 February 1931)
• Cosmic Religion : With Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931) by Albert Einstein, p. 97; also in Transformation : Arts, Communication, Environment (1950) by Harry Holtzman, p. 138. This may be an edited version of some nearly identical quotes from the 1929 Viereck interview below.
• Miscellaneous , Cosmic Religion , p. 104 (1931)
• From Cosmic Religion: with Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931), Albert Einstein, pub. Covici-Friede. Quoted in The Expanded Quotable Einstein , Princeton University Press; 2nd edition (May 30, 2000); Page 208, ISBN 0691070210
• Einstein's letter to Nikola Tesla for Tesla's 75th birthday (1931)

• In answer to a question asked by the editors of Youth , a journal of Young Israel of Williamsburg, NY. Quoted in the New York Times , June 20, 1932, pg. 17
• Unsourced variant: Only a life in the service of others is worth living.
• "On the Method of Theoretical Physics" The Herbert Spencer Lecture, delivered at Oxford (10 June 1933); also published in Philosophy of Science , Vol. 1, No. 2 (April 1934), pp. 163-169., p. 165. [thanks to Dr. Techie @ www.wordorigins.org and JSTOR] The Philosophy of Science print version is available online here .
• There is a quote attributed to Einstein that may have arisen as a paraphrase of the above quote, commonly given as " Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler, " "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler", or "Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler." See this article from the Quote Investigator for a discussion of where these later variants may have arisen.
• The original quote is very similar to Occam's razor , which advocates that among all hypotheses compatible with all available observations, the simplest hypothesis is the most plausible one.
• The aphorism "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler" is normally taken to be a warning against too much simplicity and emphasizes that one cannot simplify things to a point where the hypothesis is no more compatible with all observations. The aphorism does not contradict or extend Occam's razor, but rather stresses that both elements of the razor, simplicity and compatibility with the observations, are essential.
• The earliest known appearance of Einstein's razor is an essay by Roger Sessions in the New York Times (8 January 1950) [6] , where Sessions appears to be paraphrasing Einstein: "I also remember a remark of Albert Einstein, which certainly applies to music. He said, in effect, that everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler."
• Another early appearance, from Time magazine (14 December 1962) [7] : "We try to keep in mind a saying attributed to Einstein—that everything must be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."
• from On the Method of Theoretical Physics , p. 183. The Herbert Spencer Lecture, delivered at Oxford (10 June 1933). Quoted in Einstein's Philosophy of Science
• Alternate wording in version of On the Method of Theoretical Physics published in Philosophy of Science , Vol. 1, No. 2 (April 1934), p. 167: "Our experience up to date justifies us in feeling sure that in Nature is actualized the ideal of mathematical simplicity. It is my conviction that pure mathematical construction enables us to discover the concepts and the laws connecting them which give us the key to the understanding of the phenomena of Nature. Experience can of course guide us in our choice of serviceable mathematical concepts; it cannot possibly be the source from which they are derived; experience of course remains the sole criterion of the serviceability of a mathematical construction for physics, but the truly creative principle resides in mathematics. In a certain sense, therefore, I hold it to be true that pure thought is competent to comprehend the real, as the ancients dreamed."
• The World As I See It , Einstein, Citadel Press (reprint 2006; originally published in 1934), p. 5
• As quoted in "Atom Energy Hope is Spiked By Einstein / Efforts at Loosing Vast Force is Called Fruitless," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (29 December 1934); it was only after the breakthroughs by Enrico Fermi and others in producing nuclear chain reactions that the use of nuclear power became plausible.
• "Notes on the Origin of the General Theory of Relativity" (1934) Mein Weltbild , in Ideas and Opinions (1954) ed., Carl Seelig .
• Response to being shown a "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" column with the headline "Greatest Living Mathematician Failed in Mathematics" in 1935. Quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (2007), p. 16
• "Physics and Reality" in the Journal of the Franklin Institute Vol. 221, Issue 3 (March 1936)
• Variant translation: "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." As it appears in the "Physics and Reality" section of the book "Out of My Later Years" by Albert Einstein (1950)
• "Physics and Reality" in the Journal of the Franklin Institute Vol. 221, Issue 3 (March 1936), Pages 349-382

• From the article "Physics and Reality" (March 1936), reprinted in Out of My Later Years (1956). The quotation marks may just indicate that he wants to present this as a new aphorism, but it could possibly indicate that he is paraphrasing or quoting someone else — perhaps Immanuel Kant , since in the next sentence he says "It is one of the great realizations of Immanuel Kant that the setting up of a real external world would be senseless without this comprehensibility." Other variants:
• In the endnotes to Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, note 46 on p. 628 says that "Gerald Holton says that this is more properly translated" as the variant above, citing Holton's essay "What Precisely is Thinking?" on p. 161 of Einstein: A Centenary Volume edited by Anthony Philip French.
• This version was given in Einstein: A Biography (1954) by Antonina Vallentin, p. 24, and widely quoted afterwards. Vallentin cites "Physics and Reality" in Journal of the Franklin Institute (March 1936), and is possibly giving a variant translation as with Holton.
• As quoted in Speaking of Science (2000) by Michael Fripp
• As quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson, p. 462 . In the original essay "The fact that it is comprehensible is a miracle" appears at the end of the paragraph that follows the paragraph in which "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility" appears.
• Letter to Phyllis Wright (January 24, 1936), published in Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein's Letters to and from Children (Prometheus Books, 2002), p. 129
• "Moral Decay" (1937); Later published in Out of My Later Years (1950)
• The Evolution of Physics (1938) (co-written with Leopold Infeld )
• Letter to Queen Mother Elisabeth of Belgium (9 January 1939), asking for her help in getting an elderly cousin of his out of Germany and into Belgium. Quoted in Einstein on Peace edited by Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden (1960), p. 282
• Speech made in honor of Thomas Mann in January 1939, when Mann was given the Einstein Prize by the Jewish Forum. Quoted in Einstein Lived Here by Abraham Pais (1994), p. 214
• Statement on the occasion of Gandhi's 70th birthday (1939) Einstein archive 32-601, published in Out of My Later Years (1950).
• Variant: Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.
• Letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (August 2, 1939, delivered October 11, 1939); reported in Einstein on Peace , ed. Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden (1960, reprinted 1981), pp. 294–95

Wisehart interview (1930)

• Every man knows that in his work he does best and accomplishes most when he has attained a proficiency that enables him to work intuitively. That is, there are things which we come to know so well that we do not know how we know them. So it seems to me in matters of principle. Perhaps we live best and do things best when we are not too conscious of how and why we do them.
• I do not believe in a God who maliciously or arbitrarily interferes in the personal affairs of mankind. My religion consists of a humble admiration for the vast power which manifests itself in that small part of the universe which our poor, weak minds can grasp!
• Much reading after a certain age diverts the mind from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking, just as the man who spends too much time in the theaters is apt to be content with living vicariously instead of living his own life.
• 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.

Religion and Science (1930)

• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : Everything that the human race has done and thought is concerned with the satisfaction of deeply felt needs and the assuagement of pain. One has to keep this constantly in mind if one wishes to understand spiritual movements and their development. Feeling and longing are the motive force behind all human endeavor and human creation, in however exalted a guise the latter may present themselves to us.
• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : The desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form the social or moral conception of God. This is the God of Providence, who protects, disposes, rewards, and punishes; the God who, according to the limits of the believer's outlook, loves and cherishes the life of the tribe or of the human race, or even life itself; the comforter in sorrow and unsatisfied longing; he who preserves the souls of the dead. This is the social or moral conception of God.
• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : The Jewish scriptures admirably illustrate the development from the religion of fear to moral religion, a development continued in the New Testament. The religions of all civilized peoples, especially the peoples of the Orient, are primarily moral religions. The development from a religion of fear to moral religion is a great step in peoples' lives. And yet, that primitive religions are based entirely on fear and the religions of civilized peoples purely on morality is a prejudice against which we must be on our guard. The truth is that all religions are a varying blend of both types, with this differentiation: that on the higher levels of social life the religion of morality predominates.
• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : Common to all these types is the anthropomorphic character of their conception of God. In general, only individuals of exceptional endowments, and exceptionally high-minded communities, rise to any considerable extent above this level. But there is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it. The individual feels the futility of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in the world of thought. Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole. The beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already appear at an early stage of development, e.g., in many of the Psalms of David and in some of the Prophets. Buddhism, as we have learned especially from the wonderful writings of Schopenhauer, contains a much stronger element of this. The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza are closely akin to one another.
• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it.
• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : The man who is thoroughly convinced of the universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the idea of a being who interferes in the course of events — provided, of course, that he takes the hypothesis of causality really seriously. He has no use for the religion of fear and equally little for social or moral religion. A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible, any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the motions it undergoes. Science has therefore been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death.
• Wording in Ideas and Opinions : It is therefore easy to see why the churches have always fought science and persecuted its devotees. On the other hand, I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research. Only those who realize the immense efforts and, above all, the devotion without which pioneer work in theoretical science cannot be achieved are able to grasp the strength of the emotion out of which alone such work, remote as it is from the immediate realities of life, can issue. What a deep conviction of the rationality of the universe and what a yearning to understand, were it but a feeble reflection of the mind revealed in this world, Kepler and Newton must have had to enable them to spend years of solitary labor in disentangling the principles of celestial mechanics! Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the mentality of the men who, surrounded by a skeptical world, have shown the way to kindred spirits scattered wide through the world and through the centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.

What I Believe (1930)

( full text )

• I do not believe we can have any freedom at all in the philosophical sense, for we act not only under external compulsion but also by inner necessity. Schopenhauer ’s saying – “A man can surely do what he wills to do, but he cannot determine what he wills” – impressed itself upon me in youth and has always consoled me when I have witnessed or suffered life’s hardships. This conviction is a perpetual breeder of tolerance , for it does not allow us to take ourselves or others too seriously; it makes rather for a sense of humor.
• To ponder interminably over the reason for one’s own existence or the meaning of life in general seems to me, from an objective point of view, to be sheer folly.
• To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.
• Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury – to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
• My passionate interest in social justice and social responsibility has always stood in curious contrast to a marked lack of desire for direct association with men and women.
• I am a horse for single harness, not cut out for tandem or team work. I have never belonged wholeheartedly to country or state, to my circle of friends, or even to my own family. These ties have always been accompanied by a vague aloofness, and the wish to withdraw into myself increases with the years. Such isolation is sometimes bitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and sympathy of other men. I lose something by it, to be sure, but I am compensated for it in being rendered independent of the customs, opinions, and prejudices of others, and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations.
• My political ideal is democracy. Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.
• Those who are led should not be driven, and they should be allowed to choose their leader.
• I am convinced that degeneracy follows every autocratic system of violence, for violence inevitably attracts moral inferiors.
• Time has proved that illustrious tyrants are succeeded by scoundrels.
• The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt; he received his great brain by mistake – the spinal cord would have been amply sufficient.
• Heroism at command, this senseless violence, this accursed bombast of patriotism – how intensely I despise them! War is low and despicable, and I had rather be smitten to shreds than participate in such doings.

Mein Weltbild (My World-view) (1931)

• How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times 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... .
• I am strongly drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labour of my fellow-men. I regard class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force. I also consider that plain living is good for everybody, physically and mentally.
• In human freedom in the philosophical sense I am definitely a disbeliever. Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity. Schopenhauer 's saying, that " a man can do as he will, but not will as he will ," has been an inspiration to me since my youth up, and a continual consolation and unfailing well-spring of patience in the face of the hardships of life, my own and others'. This feeling mercifully mitigates the sense of responsibility which so easily becomes paralyzing, and it prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it conduces to a view of life in which humor, above all, has its due place.
• Variant translation: I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves — such an ethical basis I call more proper for a herd of swine. The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Without the sense of fellowship with men of like mind, of preoccupation with the objective, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific research, life would have seemed to me empty. The ordinary objects of human endeavor — property, outward success, luxury — have always seemed to me contemptible.
• Variant translation: I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude...

• Variant translations: The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle. It was the experience of mystery — even if mixed with fear — that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms — it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man.
• The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties — this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men.
• As quoted in After Einstein : Proceedings of the Einstein Centennial Celebration (1981) by Peter Barker and Cecil G. Shugart, p. 179
• As quoted in Introduction to Philosophy (1935) by George Thomas White Patrick and Frank Miller Chapman, p. 44
• The most beautiful emotion we can experience 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, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I am a devoutly religious man."
• He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

• As quoted in European Civilization and Politics Since 1815 (1938) by Erik Achorn, p. 723. amd in his obituary in The New York Times (19 April 1955)
• As quoted in The Heretic's Handbook of Quotations: Cutting Comments on Burning Issues (1992) by Charles Bufe, p. 186
• Variant translations:
• I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence — as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.
• Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the single-hearted endeavor to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the reason that manifests itself in nature.
• Numerous are the academic chairs, but rare are wise and noble teachers. Numerous and large are the lecture halls, but far from numerous the young men who genuinely thirst for truth and justice. Numerous are the wares that nature produces by the dozen, but her choice products are few.

My Credo (1932)

• Our situation on this earth seems strange. Every one of us appears here involuntarily and uninvited for a short stay, without knowing the whys and the wherefore. In our daily lives we only feel that man is here for the sake of others, for those whom we love and for many other beings whose fate is connected with our own. I am often worried at the thought that my life is based to such a large extent on the work of my fellow human beings and I am aware of my great indebtedness to them.
• Variant translation:
• I do not believe in free will . Schopenhauer 's words: 'Man can do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wills,' accompany me in all situations throughout my life and reconcile me with the actions of others, even if they are rather painful to me. This awareness of the lack of free will keeps me from taking myself and my fellow men too seriously as acting and deciding individuals, and from losing my temper.
• My passion for social justice has often brought me into conflict with people, as has my aversion to any obligation and dependence I did not regard as absolutely necessary. I have a high regard for the individual and an insuperable distaste for violence and fanaticism. All these motives have made me a passionate pacifist and antimilitarist. I am against any chauvinism, even in the guise of mere patriotism. Privileges based on position and property have always seemed to me unjust and pernicious, as does any exaggerated personality cult. I am an adherent of the ideal of democracy, although I know well the weaknesses of the democratic form of government. Social equality and economic protection of the individual have always seemed to me the important communal aims of the state. Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice keeps me from feeling isolated.
• The most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious. It is the underlying principle of religion as well as all serious endeavor in art and science. He who never had this experience seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is a something that our mind cannot grasp and whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly and as a feeble reflection, this is religiousness. In this sense I am religious. To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all that there is.
• According to my conviction it cannot be doubted that the severe economic depression is to be traced back for the most part to internal economic causes; the improvement in the apparatus of production through technical invention and organization has decreased the need for human labor, and thereby caused the elimination of a part of labor from the economic circuit, and thereby caused a progressive decrease in the purchasing power of the consumers. - as quoted in Robert Shiller's 2020 lecture at Princeton [1]
• Albert Einstein (2009) [1934]. "On the Method of Theoretical Physics". Einstein's essays in science. Translated by Alan Harris. Dover. pp. 12–21. ISBN 9780486470115 .

Obituary for Emmy Noether (1935)

• The efforts of most human-beings are consumed in the struggle for their daily bread, but most of those who are, either through fortune or some special gift, relieved of this struggle are largely absorbed in further improving their worldly lot. Beneath the effort directed toward the accumulation of worldly goods lies all too frequently the illusion that this is the most substantial and desirable end to be achieved; but there is, fortunately, a minority composed of those who recognize early in their lives that the most beautiful and satisfying experiences open to humankind are not derived from the outside, but are bound up with the development of the individual's own feeling, thinking and acting. The genuine artists, investigators and thinkers have always been persons of this kind. However inconspicuously the life of these individuals runs its course, none the less the fruits of their endeavors are the most valuable contributions which one generation can make to its successors.
• In the judgment of the most competent living mathematicians, Fräulein Noether was the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began.
• Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas. One seeks the most general ideas of operation which will bring together in simple, logical and unified form the largest possible circle of formal relationships. In this effort toward logical beauty spiritual formulas are discovered necessary for the deeper penetration into the laws of nature.

Why Do They Hate the Jews (1938)

• affirmed on page 213 of The Ultimate Quotable Einstein
• affirmed on page 70 of Einstein from 'B' to 'Z' by John Stachel in 2001

• Letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position (19 March 1940).
• Variant: Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thoughts in clear form.
• "The Fundamentals of Theoretical Physics," (1940) as quoted in Out of My Later Years (1976)
• "The Common Language of Science", a broadcast for Science, Conference, London, 28 September 1941. Published in Advancement of Science , London, Vol. 2, No. 5. Reprinted in Ideas and Opinions (1954), the quote appearing on this page .
• In a letter to Otto Juliusburger, September 29, 1942. Available in Einstein Archives 38-238
• Letter to high school student Barbara Lee Wilson (7 January 1943), Einstein Archives 42-606
• response to to survey questions, in New Masses (April 27, 1943)
• As quoted in The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist, p. 146 , (2003) by Fred Jerome
• As quoted in New York Times article "The Einstein Theory of Living; At 65 he leads the simplest of lives — and grapples with the most complex thoughts." (12 March 1944)
• As quoted in The Dark Side of Shakespeare : An Elizabethan Courtier, Diplomat, Spymaster, & Epic Hero , p. 126 (2003) by W. Ron Hess
• As quoted in "The culture of Einstein" at MSNBC (18 March 2005)
• Letter to Robert A. Thorton, Physics Professor at University of Puerto Rico (7 December 1944) [EA-674, Einstein Archive, Hebrew University, Jerusalem]. Thorton had written to Einstein on persuading colleagues of the importance of philosophy of science to scientists (empiricists) and science .
• Answer to a survey written by the French mathematician Jaques Hadamard, from Hadamard's An Essay on the Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field (1945). Reprinted in Ideas and Opinions (1954). His full set of answers to the questions can be read on p. 3 here .
• 'Essays in Science (1934) p. 11. Reprinted in Ideas and Opinions On Scientific Truth (1954) p. 261, Crown Publishers, Inc. New York, New York, USA, 1954, ISBN 0679601058 .
• Letter to Guy H. Raner Jr. (2 July 1945), responding to a rumor that a Jesuit priest had caused Einstein to convert to Christianity, quoted in an article by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1997)
• Statement on the Atomic Bomb to Raymond Swing, before 1 October 1945, as reported in Atlantic Monthly , vol. 176, no. 5 (November 1945), in Einstein on Politics , p. 373
• Einstein when asked "Dr. Einstein, why is it that when the mind of man has stretched so far as to discover the structure of the atom we have been unable to devise the political means to keep the atom from destroying us?" a conferee at a meeting at Princeton, N.J. (Jan 1946), as recalled by Greenville Clark in "Letters to the Times" in New York Times (22 Apr 1955), 24
• The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.
• a Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations (1997), 340. Variations exist due to different translations from the original German.
• "Only Then Shall We Find Courage", New York Times Magazine (23 June 1946).
• Einstein discussing the letter he sent Roosevelt raising the possibility of atomic weapons. from "Atom: Einstein, the Man Who Started It All," Newsweek Magazine (10 March 1947).
• Letter to his cousin Richard Einstein (October 1947)
• The Real Problem Is in the Hearts of Men , The New York Times Magazine ( June 23, 1946 )
• From "Atomic Education Urged by Einstein" , New York Times (25 May 1946), and later quoted in the article "The Real Problem is in the Hearts of Man" by Michael Amrine, from the New York Times Magazine (23 June 1946). A slightly modified version of the 23 June article was reprinted in Einstein on Peace by Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden (1960), and it was also reprinted in Einstein on Politics by David E. Rowe and Robert Schulmann (2007), p. 383.
• In The New Quotable Einstein (2005), editor Alice Calaprice suggests that two quotes attributed to Einstein which she could not find sources for, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them" and "The world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far has problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when we created them," may both be paraphrases of the 1946 quote above. A similar unsourced variant is "The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
• In the 23 June article Einstein expanded somewhat on the original quote from the 25 May article: Many persons have inquired concerning a recent message of mine that "a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move to higher levels." Often in evolutionary processes a species must adapt to new conditions in order to survive. Today the atomic bomb has altered profoundly the nature of the world as we knew it, and the human race consequently finds itself in a new habitat to which it must adapt its thinking. In the light of new knowledge, a world authority and an eventual world state are not just desirable in the name of brotherhood, they are necessary for survival. In previous ages a nation's life and culture could be protected to some extent by the growth of armies in national competition. Today we must abandon competition and secure cooperation. This must be the central fact in all our considerations of international affairs; otherwise we face certain disaster. Past thinking and methods did not prevent world wars. Future thinking must prevent wars.
• On the Modulor . Letter sent to Le Corbusier (1946); quoted in Modulor (1953)
• Cited as conversation between Einstein and János Plesch in János : The Story of a Doctor (1947), by János Plesch, translated by Edward FitzGerald
• On the Christian maxim "Love thy enemy", in a letter to Michele Besso (6 January 1948)
• "What must be an essential feature of any future fundamental physics?" Letter to Max Born (March 1948); published in Albert Einstein-Hedwig und Max Born (1969) "Briefwechsel 1916-55", and in Potentiality, Entanglement and Passion-at-a-Distance: Quantum Mechanical Studies for Abner Shimony, Volume Two edited by Robert Cohen, Michael Horn, and John Stachel (1997), p. 121
• As quoted in the essay "To Albert Einstein's Seventieth Birthday" by Arnold Sommerfeld , Albert Einstein : Philosopher-Scientist (1949) edited by Paul A. Schilpp (p. 102). The essay, originally published as "Zum Siebzigsten Geburtstag Albert Einsteins" in Deutsche Beiträge (Eine Zweimonatsschrift) Vol. III, No 2, 1949, was translated specifically for the book by Schilpp.
• Interview with Alfred Werner, Liberal Judaism 16 (April-May 1949), Einstein Archive 30-1104, as sourced in The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2005), p. 173

Joe Laitin reports that reporters at Bikini were questioning an army lieutenant about what weapons would be used in the next war. "I dunno," he said, "but in the war after the next war, sure as Hell, they'll be using spears!"

• Letter to Dr. H. L. Gordon (May 3, 1949 - AEA 58-217) as quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007) by Walter Isaacson ISBN 9780743264730
• Albert Einstein , as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949) edited by Paul A. Schilpp
• Letter to Guy H. Raner Jr. (28 September 1949), from article by Michael R. Gilmore in Skeptic magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1997)
• Contribution in Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist , p. A. Schilpp, ed. (The Library of Living Philosophers, Evanston, IL (1949), p. 684). Quoted in Einstein's Philosophy of Science

Science and Religion (1941)

• It would not be difficult to come to an agreement as to what we understand by science. Science is the century-old endeavor to bring together by means of systematic thought the perceptible phenomena of this world into as thoroughgoing an association as possible. To put it boldly, it is the attempt at the posterior reconstruction of existence by the process of conceptualization. But when asking myself what religion is I cannot think of the answer so easily. And even after finding an answer which may satisfy me at this particular moment, I still remain convinced that I can never under any circumstances bring together, even to a slight extent, the thoughts of all those who have given this question serious consideration.
• A person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings, and aspirations to which he clings because of their superpersonal value. It seems to me that what is important is the force of this superpersonal content and the depth of the conviction concerning its overpowering meaningfulness, regardless of whether any attempt is made to unite this content with a divine Being, for otherwise it would not be possible to count Buddha and Spinoza as religious personalities. Accordingly, a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance and loftiness of those superpersonal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation. They exist with the same necessity and matter-of-factness as he himself. In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary.
• A conflict arises when a religious community insists on the absolute truthfulness of all statements recorded in the Bible. This means an intervention on the part of religion into the sphere of science; this is where the struggle of the Church against the doctrines of Galileo and Darwin belongs. On the other hand, representatives of science have often made an attempt to arrive at fundamental judgments with respect to values and ends on the basis of scientific method, and in this way have set themselves in opposition to religion. These conflicts have all sprung from fatal errors.
• Even though the realms of religion and science in themselves are clearly marked off from each other, nevertheless there exist between the two strong reciprocal relationships and dependencies. Though religion may be that which determines the goal, it has, nevertheless, learned from science, in the broadest sense, what means will contribute to the attainment of the goals it has set up. But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion. 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. Though I have asserted above that in truth a legitimate conflict between religion and science cannot exist, I must nevertheless qualify this assertion once again on an essential point, with reference to the actual content of historical religions. This qualification has to do with the concept of God. During the youthful period of mankind's spiritual evolution human fantasy created gods in man's own image, who, by the operations of their will were supposed to determine, or at any rate to influence, the phenomenal world. Man sought to alter the disposition of these gods in his own favor by means of magic and prayer. The idea of God in the religions taught at present is a sublimation of that old concept of the gods. Its anthropomorphic character is shown, for instance, by the fact that men appeal to the Divine Being in prayers and plead for the fulfillment of their wishes.
• Nobody, certainly, will deny that the idea of the existence of an omnipotent, just, and omnibeneficent personal God is able to accord man solace, help, and guidance; also, by virtue of its simplicity it is accessible to the most undeveloped mind. But, on the other hand, there are decisive weaknesses attached to this idea in itself, which have been painfully felt since the beginning of history. That is, if this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty Being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him? The main source of the present-day conflicts between the spheres of religion and of science lies in this concept of a personal God.
• When the number of factors coming into play in a phenomenological complex is too large, scientific method in most cases fails us. One need only think of the weather, in which case prediction even for a few days ahead is impossible. Nevertheless no one doubts that we are confronted with a causal connection whose causal components are in the main known to us. Occurrences in this domain are beyond the reach of exact prediction because of the variety of factors in operation, not because of any lack of order in nature.
• The more a man is imbued with the ordered regularity of all events the firmer becomes his conviction that there is no room left by the side of this ordered regularity for causes of a different nature. For him neither the rule of human nor the rule of divine will exists as an independent cause of natural events. To be sure, the doctrine of a personal God interfering with natural events could never be refuted, in the real sense, by science, for this doctrine can always take refuge in those domains in which scientific knowledge has not yet been able to set foot. But I am persuaded that such behavior on the part of the representatives of religion would not only be unworthy but also fatal. For a doctrine which is able to maintain itself not in clear light but only in the dark, will of necessity lose its effect on mankind, with incalculable harm to human progress. In their struggle for the ethical good, teachers of religion must have the stature to give up the doctrine of a personal God, that is, give up that source of fear and hope which in the past placed such vast power in the hands of priests. In their labors they will have to avail themselves of those forces which are capable of cultivating the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in humanity itself. This is, to be sure, a more difficult but an incomparably more worthy task.
• If it is one of the goals of religion to liberate mankind as far as possible from the bondage of egocentric cravings, desires, and fears, scientific reasoning can aid religion in yet another sense. Although it is true that it is the goal of science to discover rules which permit the association and foretelling of facts, this is not its only aim. It also seeks to reduce the connections discovered to the smallest possible number of mutually independent conceptual elements. It is in this striving after the rational unification of the manifold that it encounters its greatest successes, even though it is precisely this attempt which causes it to run the greatest risk of falling a prey to illusions. But whoever has undergone the intense experience of successful advances made in this domain is moved by profound reverence for the rationality made manifest in existence. By way of the understanding he achieves a far-reaching emancipation from the shackles of personal hopes and desires, and thereby attains that humble attitude of mind toward the grandeur of reason incarnate in existence, and which, in its profoundest depths, is inaccessible to man. This attitude, however, appears to me to be religious, in the highest sense of the word. And so it seems to me that science not only purifies the religious impulse of the dross of its anthropomorphism but also contributes to a religious spiritualization of our understanding of life. The further the spiritual evolution of mankind 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 knowledge.

Only Then Shall We Find Courage (1946)

• Remark to scientist Herman Francis Mark

Religion and Science: Irreconcilable? (1948)

• Does there truly exist an insuperable contradiction between religion and science? Can religion be superseded by science? The answers to these questions have, for centuries, given rise to considerable dispute and, indeed, bitter fighting. Yet, in my own mind there can be no doubt that in both cases a dispassionate consideration can only lead to a negative answer. What complicates the solution, however, is the fact that while most people readily agree on what is meant by "science," they are likely to differ on the meaning of "religion."
• Science, in the immediate, produces knowledge and, indirectly, means of action. It leads to methodical action if definite goals are set up in advance. For the function of setting up goals and passing statements of value transcends its domain. While it is true that science, to the extent of its grasp of causative connections, may reach important conclusions as to the compatibility and incompatibility of goals and evaluations, the independent and fundamental definitions regarding goals and values remain beyond science's reach. As regards religion, on the other hand, one is generally agreed that it deals with goals and evaluations and, in general, with the emotional foundation of human thinking and acting, as far as these are not predetermined by the inalterable hereditary disposition of the human species. Religion is concerned with man's attitude toward nature at large, with the establishing of ideals for the individual and communal life, and with mutual human relationship. These ideals religion attempts to attain by exerting an educational influence on tradition and through the development and promulgation of certain easily accessible thoughts and narratives (epics and myths) which are apt to influence evaluation and action along the lines of the accepted ideals.
• It is this mythical, or rather this symbolic, content of the religious traditions which is likely to come into conflict with science. This occurs whenever this religious stock of ideas contains dogmatically fixed statements on subjects which belong in the domain of science. Thus, it is of vital importance for the preservation of true religion that such conflicts be avoided when they arise from subjects which, in fact, are not really essential for the pursuance of the religious aims.
• The moral attitudes of a people that is supported by religion need always aim at preserving and promoting the sanity and vitality of the community and its individuals, since otherwise this community is bound to perish. A people that were to honor falsehood, defamation, fraud, and murder would be unable, indeed, to subsist for very long.
• The great moral teachers of humanity were, in a way, artistic geniuses in the art of living.
• While religion prescribes brotherly love in the relations among the individuals and groups, the actual spectacle more resembles a battlefield than an orchestra. Everywhere, in economic as well as in political life, the guiding principle is one of ruthless striving for success at the expense of one's fellow men. This competitive spirit prevails even in school and, destroying all feelings of human fraternity and cooperation, conceives of achievement not as derived from the love for productive and thoughtful work, but as springing from personal ambition and fear of rejection. There are pessimists who hold that such a state of affairs is necessarily inherent in human nature; it is those who propound such views that are the enemies of true religion, for they imply thereby that religious teachings are Utopian ideals and unsuited to afford guidance in human affairs. The study of the social patterns in certain so-called primitive cultures, however, seems to have made it sufficiently evident that such a defeatist view is wholly unwarranted.
• While it is true that scientific results are entirely independent from religious or moral considerations, those individuals to whom we owe the great creative achievements of science were all of them imbued with the truly religious conviction that this universe of ours is something perfect and susceptible to the rational striving for knowledge. If this conviction had not been a strongly emotional one and if those searching for knowledge had not been inspired by Spinoza's Amor Dei Intellectualis , they would hardly have been capable of that untiring devotion which alone enables man to attain his greatest achievements.

"Autobiographical Notes" (1949)

• Even when I was a fairly precocious young man the nothingness of the hopes and strivings which chases most men restlessly through life came to my consciousness with considerable vitality. Moreover, I soon discovered the cruelty of that chase, which in those years was much more carefully covered up by hypocrisy and glittering words than is the case today. By the mere existence of his stomach everyone was condemned to participate in that chase. Moreover, it was possible to satisfy the stomach by such participation, but not man in so far as he is a thinking and feeling being. As the first way out there was religion, which is implanted into every child by way of the traditional education-machine. Thus I came—despite the fact that I was the son of entirely irreligious (Jewish) parents—to a deep religiosity, which, however, found an abrupt ending at the age of 12. Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic [orgy of] freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression. Suspicion against every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude towards the convictions which were alive in any specific social environment—an attitude which has never again left me , even though later on, because of a better insight into the causal connections, it lost some of its original poignancy.
• It is quite clear to me that the religious paradise of youth, which was thus lost, was a first attempt to free myself from the chains of the "merely-personal," from an existence which is dominated by wishes, hopes and primitive feelings. Out yonder there was this huge world, which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckoned like a liberation, and I soon noticed that many a man whom I had learned to esteem and to admire had found inner freedom and security in devoted occupation with it. The mental grasp of this extrapersonal world within the frame of the given possibilites swam as highest aim half consciously and half unconsciously before my mind's eye. Similarly motivated men of the present and of the past, as well as the insights which they had achieved, were the friends which could not be lost. The road to this paradise was not as comfortable and alluring as the road to the religious paradise; but it has proved itself as trustworthy, and I have never regretted having chosen it.
• For me it is not dubious that our thinking goes on for the most part without use of signs (words) and beyond that to a considerable degree unconsciously. For how, otherwise, should it happen that sometimes we "wonder" quite spontaneously about some experience? This "wondering" seems to occur when an experience comes into conflict with a world of concepts which is already sufficiently fixed in us. Whenever such a conflict is experienced hard and intensively it reacts back upon our thought world in a decisive way. The development of this thought world is in a certain sense a continuous flight from "wonder."
• A wonder of such nature I experienced as a child of 4 or 5 years, when my father showed me a compass. That this needle behaved in such a determined way did not at all fit into the nature of events, which could find a place in the unconscious world of concepts (effect connected with direct "touch"). I can still remember—or at least believe I can remember—that this experience made a deep and lasting impression upon me. Something deeply hidden had to be behind things. What man sees before him from infancy causes no reaction of this kind; he is not surprised over the falling of bodies, concerning wind and rain, nor concerning the moon or about the fact that the moon does not fall down, nor concerning the differences between living and non-living matter. At the age of 12 I experienced a second wonder of a totally different nature: in a little book dealing with Euclidean plane geometry, which came into my hands at the beginning of a schoolyear. Here were assertions, as for example the intersection of the three altitudes of a triangle in one point, which—though by no means evident—could nevertheless be proved with such certainty that any doubt appeared to be out of the question. This lucidity and certainty made an indescribable impression upon me. That the axioms had to be accepted unproved did not disturb me. In any case it was quite sufficient for me if I could peg proofs upon propositions the validity of which did not seem to me to be dubious.
• One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect [upon me] that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year.
• It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail. 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.
• A theory is the more impressive, the greater the simplicity of its premises, the more diverse things it connects, and the wider its scope
• Reflections of this type made it clear to me as long ago as shortly after 1900, i.e., shortly after Planck's trailblazing work, that neither mechanics nor electrodynamics could (except in limiting cases) claim exact validity. By and by I despaired of the possibility of discovering the true laws by means of constructive efforts based on known facts. The longer and the more despairingly I tried, the more I came to the conviction that only the discovery of a universal formal principle could lead us to assured results. . . . How, then, could such a universal principle be found? After ten years of reflection such a principle resulted from a paradox upon which I had already hit at the age of sixteen: If I pursue a beam of light with the velocity c (velocity of light in a vacuum), I should observe such a beam as a spatially oscillatory electromagnetic field at rest. However, there seems to be no such thing, whether on the bases of experience or according to Maxwell's equations. From the very beginning it appeared to me intuitively clear that, judged from the stand-point of such an observer, everything would have to happen according to the same laws as for an observer who, relative to the earth, was at rest.

"Einstein's Reply to Criticisms" (1949)

• I now imagine a quantum theoretician who may even admit that the quantum-theoretical description refers to ensembles of systems and not to individual systems, but who, nevertheless, clings to the idea that the type of description of the statistical quantum theory will, in its essential features, be retained in the future. He may argue as follows: True, I admit that the quantum-theoretical description is an incomplete description of the individual system. I even admit that a complete theoretical description is, in principle, thinkable. But I consider it proven that the search for such a complete description would be aimless. For the lawfulness of nature is thus constituted that the laws can be completely and suitably formulated within the framework of our incomplete description. To this I can only reply as follows: Your point of view — taken as theoretical possibility — is incontestable. For me, however, the expectation that the adequate formulation of the universal laws involves the use of all conceptual elements which are necessary for a complete description, is more natural. It is furthermore not at all surprising that, by using an incomplete description, (in the main) only statistical statements can be obtained out of such description. If it should be possible to move forward to a complete description, it is likely that the laws would represent relations among all the conceptual elements of this description which, per se , have nothing to do with statistics.

The World As I See It (1949)

The Meaning of Life

• What is the meaning of human life , or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.
• This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does 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.
• And yet... in spite of everything, is my opinion of the human race that I believe this bogey would have disappeared long ago, had the sound sense of the nations not been systematically corrupted by commercial and political interests acting through the schools and the Press.

Good and Evil

• The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained to liberation from the self.

Society and Personality

• When we survey our lives and endeavors we soon observe that almost the whole of our actions and desires are bound up with the existence of other human beings. We see that our whole nature resembles that of the social animals. We eat food that others have grown, wear clothes that others have made, live in houses that others have built. The greater part of our knowledge and beliefs has been communicated to us by other people through the medium of a language which others have created. Without language our mental capacities would be poor indeed, comparable to those of the higher animals; we have, therefore, to admit that we owe our principal advantage over the beasts to the fact of living in human society. The individual, if left alone from birth would remain primitive and beast-like in his thoughts and feelings to a degree that we can hardly conceive. The individual is what he is and has the significance that he has not so much in virtue of his individuality, but rather as a member of a great human society, which directs his material and spiritual existence from the cradle to the grave.

• A man's value to the community depends primarily on how far his feelings, thoughts, and actions are directed towards promoting the good of his fellows. We call him good or bad according to how he stands in this matter. It looks at first sight as if our estimate of a man depended entirely on his social qualities. And yet such an attitude would be wrong. It is clear that all the valuable things, material, spiritual, and moral, which we receive from society can be traced back through countless generations to certain creative individuals. The use of fire, the cultivation of edible plants, the steam engine — each was discovered by one man. Only the individual can think, and thereby create new values for society — nay, even set up new moral standards to which the life of the community conforms. Without creative, independently thinking and judging personalities the upward development of society is as unthinkable as the development of the individual personality without the nourishing soil of the community. The health of society thus depends quite as much on the independence of the individuals composing it as on their close political cohesion.
• I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can produce fine ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and always tempts its owners irresistibly to abuse it. Can anyone imagine Moses , Jesus , or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie ?

Religion in Science

• You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a peculiar religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religion of the naive man. For the latter God is a being from whose care one hopes to benefit and whose punishment one fears; a sublimation of a feeling similar to that of a child for its father, a being to whom one stands to some extent in a personal relation, however deeply it may be tinged with awe. But the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The future, to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. His religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question closely akin to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages.

Greeting to G. Bernard Shaw

• There are few enough people with sufficient independence to see the weaknesses and follies of their contemporaries and remain themselves untouched by them. And these isolated few usually soon lose their zeal for putting things to rights when they have come face to face with human obduracy. Only to a tiny minority is it given to fascinate their generation by subtle humour and grace and to hold the mirror up to it by the impersonal agency of art. To-day I salute with sincere emotion the supreme master of this method, who has delighted — and educated — us all.

Some Notes on my American Impressions

• 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 the United States is closely connected with this.
• The cult of individual personalities is always, in my view, unjustified. To be sure, nature distributes her gifts variously among her children. But there are plenty of the well-endowed ones too, thank God, and I am firmly convinced that most of them live quiet, unregarded lives. It strikes me as unfair, and even in bad taste, to select a few of them for boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate, and the contrast between the popular estimate of my powers and achievements and the reality is simply grotesque. The consciousness of this extraordinary state of affairs would be unbearable but for one great consoling thought: it is a welcome symptom in an age which is commonly denounced as materialistic, that it makes heroes of men whose ambitions lie wholly in the intellectual and moral sphere. This proves that knowledge and justice are ranked above wealth and power by a large section of the human race. My experience teaches me that this idealistic outlook is particularly prevalent in America, which is usually decried as a particularly materialistic country.
• The United States is the most powerful technically advanced country in the world to-day. Its influence on the shaping of international relations is absolutely incalculable. But America is a large country and its people have so far not shown much interest in great international problems, among which the problem of disarmament occupies first place today. This must be changed, if only in the essential interests of the Americans. The last war has shown that there are no longer any barriers between the continents and that the destinies of all countries are closely interwoven. The people of this country must realize that they have a great responsibility in the sphere of international politics. The part of passive spectator is unworthy of this country and is bound in the end to lead to disaster all round.

Letter to a Friend of Peace

• Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts

Production and Work

• Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work.

Christianity and Judaism

• If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity. It is the duty of every man of good will to strive steadfastly in his own little world to make this teaching of pure humanity a living force, so far as he can. If he makes an honest attempt in this direction without being crushed and trampled under foot by his contemporaries, he may consider himself and the community to which he belongs lucky.

Unconfirmed:

• May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers!
• The state is made for man, not man for the state. And in this respect science resembles the state.

Why Socialism? (1949)

• Historic tradition is, so to speak, of yesterday; nowhere have we really overcome what Thorstein Veblen called " the predatory phase " of human development. The observable economic facts belong to that phase and even such laws as we can derive from them are not applicable to other phases. Since the real purpose of socialism is precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory phase of human development, economic science in its present state can throw little light on the socialist society of the future.
• Socialism is directed towards a social-ethical end. Science, however, cannot create ends and, even less, instill them in human beings; science, at most, can supply the means by which to attain certain ends. But the ends themselves are conceived by personalities with lofty ethical ideals and — if these ends are not stillborn, but vital and vigorous — are adopted and carried forward by those many human beings who, half unconsciously, determine the slow evolution of society. For these reasons, we should be on our guard not to overestimate science and scientific methods when it is a question of human problems; and we should not assume that experts are the only ones who have a right to express themselves on questions affecting the organization of society.
• I am very conscious of the fact that our feelings and strivings are often contradictory and obscure and that they cannot be expressed in easy and simple formulas.
• Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires, and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows, and to improve their conditions of life. Only the existence of these varied, frequently conflicting, strivings accounts for the special character of a man, and their specific combination determines the extent to which an individual can achieve an inner equilibrium and can contribute to the well-being of society.
• The abstract concept "society" means to the individual human being the sum total of his direct and indirect relations to his contemporaries and to all the people of earlier generations. The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself; but he depends so much upon society — in his physical, intellectual, and emotional existence — that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society. It is "society" which provides man with food, clothing, a home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought, and most of the content of thought; his life is made possible through the labor and the accomplishments of the many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word "society."
• The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate.
• The owner of the means of production is in a position to purchase the labor power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. The essential point about this process is the relation between what the worker produces and what he is paid, both measured in terms of real value. In so far as the labor contract is free what the worker receives is determined not by the real value of the goods he produces, but by his minimum needs and by the capitalists' requirements for labor power in relation to the number of workers competing for jobs. It is important to understand that even in theory the payment of the worker is not determined by the value of his product.
• I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
• The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor — not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules.
• Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an "army of unemployed" almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers' goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals.
• I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society. Nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism. A planned economy as such may be accompanied by the complete enslavement of the individual. The achievement of socialism requires the solution of some extremely difficult socio-political problems: how is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralisation of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?
• Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.

• United Nations radio interview recorded in Einstein's study, Princeton, New Jersey (1950)
• Note to the fifteenth edition of Relativity: The Special and the General Theory , June 9th, 1952
• Letter of condolence sent to Robert J. Marcus of the World Jewish Congress (12 February 1950) · Above translation and original German draft
• Google translation of Germant text of Einsteins handwritten note, quoted in Original draft, texts of letters, and variant translations in "Einstein's Misquote on the Illusion of Feeling Separate from the Whole" (29 March 2018)
• Variant (Another letter of condolence to another person, written soon after, using the first sentence of the above):
• Condolence letter to Norman Salit, (4 March 1950) ; also quoted in "The Einstein Papers. A Man of Many Parts" in The New York Times (29 March 1972), p. 1
• Statement upon joining the Montreal Pipe Smokers Club (1950)
• "The Need for Ethical Culture" celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Ethical Culture Society , founded by Felix Adler (5 January 1951) (the full remarks can be found in Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein and Carl Seelig )
• Letter to Hans Muehsam (9 July 1951), Einstein Archives 38-408, quoted in The Ultimate Quotable Einstein (2010) by Alice Calaprice, p. 404
• I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
• Letter to Carl Seelig (11 March 1952), Einstein Archives 39-013
• Translation: Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best books of contemporary authors appears to me like an extremely near-sighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own, without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people, is, similarly, even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous.
• Article in Der Jungkaufmann, April 1952 , Einstein Archives 28-972
• Letter to Michele Besso (10 September 1952), Letter n°190, Correspondance, 1903-1955 (1972), by Pierre Speziali and Michele Angelo Besso
• "Education for Independent Thought" in The New York Times , 5 October 1952. Reprinted in Ideas and Opinions (1954)
• Letter to Michele Besso (8 October 1952). According to Scientifically speaking: a dictionary of quotations, Volume 1 (2002), p. 154 , the letter is reprinted on p. 487 of Correspondance 1903-1955 (1972) by Michele Besso.
• Letter to the Michelson Commemorative Meeting of the Cleveland Physics Society (1952), as quoted by R.S.Shankland, Am J Phys 32, 16 (1964), p35, republished in A P French, Special Relativity , ISBN 0177710756
• Letter to Queen Mother Elisabeth of Belgium (12 January 1953), Einstein Archive 32-405. Quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel by Banesh Hoffman (1973), p. 261 , and also partially quoted (with a reference to the exact date of the letter) in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (2007), p. 536
• Einstein's tribute to Pablo Casals (30 March 1953), in Conversations with Casals (1957), page 11, by Josep Maria Corredor, translated from Conversations avec Pablo Casals : souvenirs et opinions d'un musicien (1955)
• As quoted in The Harper Book of Quotations by Robert I. Fitzhenry (1993), p. 356
• As quoted in Conscious Courage : Turning Everyday Challenges Into Opportunities (2004) by Maureen Stearns, p. 99
• The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.
• Letter to J.S. Switzer (23 April 1953), quoted in The Scientific Revolution: a Hstoriographical Inquiry By H. Floris Cohen (1994), p. 234 , and also partly quoted in The Ultimate Quotable Einstein edited by Alice Calaprice (2010), p. 405
• "Address on Receiving Lord & Taylor Award" (4 May 1953) in Ideas and Opinions
• Letter to Eileen Danniheisser (1953), quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel by Banesh Hoffman (1973), p. 261 . The exact date, or the name of his correspondent, is not given in the snippet of the book available online, but the quote appears after the letter to the Queen of Belgium from 12 January 1953, and is prefaced by "Nine months later, in words that recall the beliefs of an early atomic speculator, the Roman poet Lucretius, Einstein had written to an inquirer", followed by the quote. The name "Eileen Danniheisser" is given in Time: Volume 144 , where it is mentioned in the snippets here and here that she had written Einstein "about her obsessive thoughts of death as a child".
• Essay to Leo Baeck (1953), The New Quotable Einstein.
• (October 15, 1953) as quoted by Johanna Fantova in Conversations with Einstein
• Gutkind Letter (3 January 1954), "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear" . The Guardian. 13 May 2008.  
• "On Intellectual Freedom", letter to the editor of The Reporter about the situation of scientists in America (13 / 18 October 1954, v11, no. 9; sometimes cited as 14 / 23 September 1954 instead; reprinted in Einstein On Politics: His Private Thoughts and Public Stands on Nationalism, Zionism, War, Peace, and the Bomb , Rowe & Schulmann 2007; also attested to by Abraham J. Multer in his Congressional testimony 2 February 1955, quoting a 23 January 1955 speech in Ohio by The Reporter executive editor Harland Cleveland)
• Recorded by Linus Pauling, "Note to Self regarding a meeting with Albert Einstein. November 16, 1954"
• Ideas and Opinions (1954), pp. 238–239; quoted in "Einstein's Philosophy of Science"
• Address to the Chicago Decalogue Society (20 February 1954)
• Ideas and Opinions (1954), pp. 25–26
• Letter to Besso's family (March 1955) following the death of Michele Besso , as quoted in Disturbing the Universe (1979) by Freeman Dyson Ch. 17 "A Distant Mirror", p. 193
• Sometimes misquoted as "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
• Variant: "He has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. For us believing physicists, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubborn illusion." Quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (2008), p. 540 .
• Variant: "Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That signifies nothing. For us believing physicists, the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." Quoted in Albert Einstein: The Miracle Mind by Tabatha Yeatts (2007), p. 116 .
• Variant: "In quitting this strange world he has once again preceded me by a little. That doesn't mean anything. For those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present, and future is only an illusion, however tenacious." Quoted in The Structure of Physics by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1985), p. 288 .
• Variant: "Now he has departed a little ahead of me from this quaint world. This means nothing. For us faithful physicists, the separation between past, present, and future has only the meaning of an illusion, though a persistent one." Quoted in Einstein and Religion by Max Jammer (2002), p. 161 .
• Variant: "Now he has preceded me by a little bit in his departure from this strange world as well. This means nothing. For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present, and future is only an illusion, however tenacious this illusion may be." Quoted in Einstein: A Biography by Jürgen Neff (2007), p. 402
• From his "Autobiographische Skizze" (18 April 1955), original German version here . Translation from Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein by Abraham Pais (1982), p. 131 . Pais notes that when he said "during that year", he was referring to some time between October 1895 and early fall 1896.
• Variant: "Innovation is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure."
• Original German version: Während dieses Jahres in Aarau kam mir die Frage: Wenn man einer Lichtwelle mit Lichtgeschwindigkeit nachläuft, so würde man ein zeitunabhängiges Wellenfeld vor sich haben. So etwas scheint es aber doch nicht zu geben! Dies war das erste kindliche Gedanken-Experiment, das mit der speziellen Relativitätstheorie zu tun hat. Das Erfinden ist kein Werk des logischen Denkens, wenn auch das Endprodukt an die logische Gestalt gebunden ist. ("Autobiographische Skizze", p. 10)
• From his "Autobiographische Skizze" (18 April 1955), original German version here . Translation from Einstein from 'B' to 'Z' by John J. Stachel (2001), p. 5 .
• Variant: "Working on the final formulation of technological patents was a veritable blessing for me. It enforced many-sided thinking and also provided important stimuli to physical thought. [Academia] places a young person under a kind of compulsion to produce impressive quantities of scientific publications — a temptation to superficiality." As quoted in "Who Knew?" at NationalGeographic.com (May 2005).
• Original German version: Formulierung technischer Patente ein wahrer Segen für mich. Sie zwang zu vielseitigem Denken, bot auch wichtige Anregungen für das physikalische Denken. Endlich ist ein praktischer Beruf für Menschen meiner Art überhaupt ein Segen. Denn die akademische Laufbahn versetzt einen jungen Menschen in eine Art Zwangslage, wissenschaftliche Schriften in impressiver Menge zu produzieren — eine Verführung zur Oberflächlichkeit, der nur starke Charaktere zu widerstehen vermögen. ("Autobiographische Skizze", p. 12)
• The New York Times (22 April, 1955) response to being asked why people could discover atomic power, but not the means to control it.
• (Apr 1955) unfinished address he was writing prior to death.
• Death of a Genius," LIFE magazine (2 May 1955) statement to William Miller, p. 64.

• As quoted by LIFE magazine (2 May 1955)
• (1955) as quoted in Some strangeness in the proportion: a centennial symposium to celebrate the achievements of Albert Einstein (1980) Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., Advanced Book Program.
• (1955) as quoted in Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives (1997) ed. Gerald Holton , Yehuda Elkana , p. 388, from The Centennial Symposium in Jerusalem (1979)

On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation (1950)

• This is the reason why all attempts to obtain a deeper knowledge of the foundations of physics seem doomed to me unless the basic concepts are in accordance with general relativity from the beginning. This situation makes it difficult to use our empirical knowledge, however comprehensive, in looking for the fundamental concepts and relations of physics, and it forces us to apply free speculation to a much greater extent than is presently assumed by most physicists.
• I do not see any reason to assume that the heuristic significance of the principle of general relativity is restricted to gravitation and that the rest of physics can be dealt with separately on the basis of special relativity, with the hope that later on the whole may be fitted consistently into a general relativistic scheme. I do not think that such an attitude, although historically understandable, can be objectively justified. The comparative smallness of what we know today as gravitational effects is not a conclusive reason for ignoring the principle of general relativity in theoretical investigations of a fundamental character. In other words, I do not believe that it is justifiable to ask: What would physics look like without gravitation?
• There exists a passion for comprehension, just as there exists a passion for music. That passion is rather common in children, but it gets lost in most people later on. Without this passion, there would be neither mathematics nor natural science. Time and again the passion for understanding has led to the illusion that man is able to comprehend the objective world rationally, by pure thought, without any empirical foundations—in short, by metaphysics . I believe that every true theorist is a kind of tamed metaphysicist, no matter how pure a " positivist " he may fancy himself. The metaphysicist believes that the logically simple is also the real. The tamed metaphysicist believes that not all that is logically simple is embodied in experienced reality, but that the totality of all sensory experience can be "comprehended" on the basis of a conceptual system built on premises of great simplicity. The skeptic will say that this is a "miracle creed." Admittedly so, but it is a miracle creed which has been borne out to an amazing extent by the development of science.

Out of My Later Years (1950)

• Ch. 2 "Self-Portrait" (1936), p. 5
• Ch. 6 "On Freedom" (1940), p. 12
• Ch. 6 "On Freedom" (1940), p. 13
• Ch. 7 "Morals and Emotions" (1938), p. 15
• Ch. 8 "Science and Religion" (1939-1941), p. 22
• Ch. 8 "Science and Religion" (1939-1941), p. 23
• Ch. 13 "Physics and Reality" (1936), p. 61
• Ch. 16 "The Laws of Science and the Laws of Ethics" (1950)

• Ch. 27 A reply to the Soviet scientists (1948)
• Ch. 31 "Atomic War or Peace" part II (1947)
• Ch. 51 "The Goal of Human Existence" (1943)

Essay to Leo Baeck (1953)

• The New Quotable Einstein
• In order to be a perfect member of a flock of sheep , one has to be, foremost, a sheep.
• variant translation from Ideas and Opinions : "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."
• variant translation from Ideas and Opinions : "I salute the man who is going through life always helpful, knowing no fear, and to whom aggressiveness and resentment are alien. Such is the stuff of which the great moral leaders are made who proffer consolation to mankind in their self-created miseries."
• Ideas and Opinions
• The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.
• [Words he used to refuse heart surgery the day before he passed away.]
• Einsteins Legacy: The Final Chapter, Albert Einstein dies soon after a blood vessel bursts near his heart. American Museum of Natural History April 18, 1955

Russell–Einstein Manifesto (1955)

• Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race ; or shall mankind renounce war?
• We are speaking on this occasion, not as members of this or that nation, continent, or creed, but as human beings, members of the species Man, whose continued existence is in doubt. The world is full of conflicts; and, overshadowing all minor conflicts, the titanic struggle between Communism and anti-Communism...we want you, if you can, to set aside such feelings and consider yourselves only as members of a biological species which has had a remarkable history, and whose disappearance none of us can desire.
• It is feared that if many H-bombs are used there will be universal death , sudden only for a minority, but for the majority a slow torture of disease and disintegration.

Attributed in posthumous publications

• A comment recalled by János Plesch in János, the Story of a Doctor (1947), p. 207. Also quoted in Einstein: the Life and Times by Ronald W. Clark (1971), p. 118 .
• Variant: "When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of imagination has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing absolute knowledge." From The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice (2010), p. 26 . This book attributes it to Einstein and the Humanities (1979) by Dennis Ryan, p. 125, but Calaprice seems to have copied it wrong, since searching "inside the book" on this book's amazon page using the word "gift" shows that p. 125 actually gives the same quote as in János, the Story of a Doctor .
• Attributed to Einstein by his colleague Léopold Infeld in his book Quest: An Autobiography (1949), p. 279
• Attributed to Einstein by his colleague Léopold Infeld in his book Quest: An Autobiography (1949), p. 291
• Earliest source located is the book Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists by Robert Jungk (1958), p. 249, which says that Einstein made the comment during "a walk with Ernst Straus, a young mathematician acting as his scientific assistant at Princeton."
• Variant: "Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity." From A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking (2005), p. 144 .
• Earlier, Straus recalled the German version of the quote in Helle Zeit, Dunkle Zeit: In Memoriam Albert Einstein (1956) edited by Carl Seelig, p. 71. There the quote was given as Ja, so muß man seine Zeit zwischen der Politik und unseren Gleichungen teilen. Aber unsere Gleichungen sind mir doch viel wichtiger; denn die Politik ist für die Gegenwart da, aber solch eine Gleichung is etwas für die Ewigkeit.
• Quoted by Ernst G. Straus , who was Einstein's assistant from 1944 to 1948, in Carl Seelig, Helle Zeit—Dunkel Zeit (Europa Verlag, Zurich, 1956), p. 72
• As translated in Max Jammer, Einstein and Religion (Princeton University Press, 1999), p. 124
• As translated in Gerald Holton, The Scientific Imagination: Case Studies (Cambridge University Press, 1978), p. xii
• In Carl Seelig's Albert Einstein: A Documentary Biography (1956), Seelig reports that Einstein said this to James Franck, p. 71 .
• Variant translation which appears in Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald W. Clark (1971), p. 27
• Attributed to Einstein in Carl Seelig's Albert Einstein: A Documentary Biography (1956), p. 80 . Said to have been a comment he made to his son Eduard when Eduard asked him, at age 9, "Why are you actually so famous, papa?"
• A comment to T. H. Morgan , as recalled by Henry Borsook. Einstein was visiting Cal Tech where Morgan and Borsook worked, and Morgan explained to Einstein that he was trying to bring physics and chemistry to bear on the problems of biology, to which Einstein gave this response. Borsook's recollection was published in Symposium on Structure of Enzymes and Proteins (1956), p. 284 , as part of a piece titled "Informal remarks 'by way of a summary'". Context for this story is also given in The Molecular Vision of Life by Lily E. Kay (1993), p. 95
• Attributed to Einstein in Albert Einstein: A Documentary Biography by Carl Seeling (1956), p. 114 . Einstein is said to have made this remark "when someone in his company grew angry about a mutual acquaintance's moral decline".
• Attributed by his friend Leo Mattersdorf, who also said that "From the time Professor Einstein came to this country until his death, I prepared his income tax returns and advised him on his tax problems." In a letter to Time magazine, 22 February 1963. See this post from The Quote Investigator for more background.
• Conversations with Einstein by Alexander Moszkowski (1971), p. 69 . This is just Moszkowski's English translation of a statement he attributed to Einstein in his 1922 book Einstein, Einblicke in seine Gedankenwelt , p. 77 : "Was die Physik betrifft, fuhr Einstein fort, so darf für den ersten Unterricht gar nichts in Frage kommen, als das Experimentelle, anschaulich-Interessante. Ein hübsches Experiment ist schon an sich oft wertvoller, als zwanzig in der Gedankenretorte entwickelte Formeln." As Moszkowski makes clear in the original German text, this "quotation" is a paraphrasing of his conversation with Einstein.
• Attributed in Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald W. Clark (1971), p. 737. The only source given in the end notes is "personal information". Einstein is said to have made this comment when a box of candy was being passed around after dinner, and he said that his doctor wouldn't let him eat it. The book also says that 'A friend asked him why it was the devil and not God who had imposed the penalty. "What's the difference?" he answered. "One has a plus in front, the other a minus."'.
• A comment of Einstein's recalled by John Wheeler in Albert Einstein: His influence on physics, philosophy and politics edited by Peter C. Aichelburg, Roman Ulrich Sexl, and Peter Gabriel Bergmann (1979), p. 202
• An explanation of relativity which he gave to his secretary Helen Dukas to convey to non-scientists and reporters, as quoted in Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (1957) by James B. Simpson; also in Expandable Quotable Einstein (2005) edited by Alice Calaprice
• William Hermanns recorded a series of four conversations he had with Einstein and published them in his book Einstein and the Poet (1983), quoting Einstein saying this variant in a 1948 conversation: "To simplify the concept of relativity, I always use the following example: if you sit with a girl on a garden bench and the moon is shining, then for you the hour will be a minute. However, if you sit on a hot stove, the minute will be an hour." ( p. 87 )
• In the 1985 book Einstein in America , Jamie Sayen wrote "Einstein devised the following explanation for her [Helen Dukas] to give when asked to explain relativity: An hour sitting with a pretty girl on a park bench passes like a minute, but a minute sitting on a hot stove seems like an hour." ( p. 130 )
• Quoted by Otto Stern , a colleague of Einstein in Zurich from 1912 to 1914, in a 1962 oral history interview with Thomas S. Kuhn
• Statement to German anti-Nazi diplomat and author Prince Hubertus zu Lowenstein around 1941, as quoted in his book Towards the Further Shore : An Autobiography (1968)
• George Gamow , in his autobiography My World Line: An Informal Autobiography (1970), p. 44. Here the "cosmological term" refers to the cosmological constant in the equations of general relativity, whose value Einstein initially picked to ensure that his model of the universe would neither expand nor contract; if he hadn't done this he might have theoretically predicted the universal expansion that was first observed by Edwin Hubble .
• As recalled by his biographer Abraham Pais in Reviews of Modern Physics , 51, 863 (1979): 907. Cited in Boojums All The Way Through by N. David Mermin (1990), p. 81
• When asked by a student what he would have done if Sir Arthur Eddington 's famous 1919 gravitational lensing experiment, which confirmed relativity, had instead disproved it.
• As quoted in Reality and Scientific Truth : Discussions with Einstein, von Laue, and Planck (1980) by Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider, p. 74
• Variant: "I would have felt sorry for the dear Lord! The theory is, of course, all right." Quoted in The Physicist's Conception of Nature by Jagdish Mehra (1979), p. 131 . This source attributes it to a conversation with Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider, author of the book the previous version is from.
• German orgiginal: Dimensionslose Konstanten in den Naturgesetzen, die vom rein logischen Standpunkt aus ebensogut andere Werte haben können, dürfte es nicht geben.
• As quoted in Begegnungen mit Einstein, von Laue, und Planck (1988) by Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider, p. 31, English edition Reality and Scientific Truth : Discussions with Einstein, von Laue, and Planck (1980) by Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider
• As quoted by Ernst Straus in Einstein: A Centenary Volume by A.P. French (1980), p. 32.
• Variant: "if you want to be a happy man, you should tie your life to a goal, not to other people and not to things." A quote from Ernst Straus' memoir of Einstein in Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives edited by Gerald Holton and Yehuda Elkana (1982), p. 420
• I Visit Professor Einstein by Jack Brown published in Ojai Valley News ,(28 September 1983)
• Attributed to Einstein by physicist John Archibald Wheeler in John Horgan's article "Profile: Physicist John A. Wheeler, Questioning the 'It from Bit'". Scientific American , pp. 36-37, June 1991. Reprinted here after Wheeler's death.
• As quoted in The Private Albert Einstein (1992) by Peter A. Bucky and Allen G. Weakland, p. 86
• Statement recorded in the diary of his companion Johanna Fantova, quoted at the end of the New York Times story "From Companion's Lost Diary, A Portrait of Einstein in Old Age" by Dennis Overbye (24 April 2004)
• Albert Einstein in a letter to his cousin and second wife Elsa, during a visit to the University of Oxford, in collection donated to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel by Einstein's stepdaughter Margot, as quoted in "Einstein in no-sock shock" , New Scientist (15 July 2006)
• Quoted in a WSJ 1994 article Science Resurrects God .

Albert Einstein: The Human Side (1979)

• Letter to Carl Seelig (25 October 1953), p. 22
• Entry in a travel diary (10 December 1931) discussing a storm at sea, p. 23
• A note Einstein wrote underneath an etching of himself (made by Hermann Struck) which he sent to a friend, Dr. Hans Mühsam. According to the book, "the date is 1920 or perhaps earlier", p. 24
• 19 June 51, p. 34
• p. 37 - 27 January 1921
• Aphorism (1937), p. 38
• Reply to a letter sent to him on 17 July 1953 p. 39
• Draft of a German reply to a letter sent to him in 1954 or 1955, p. 39
• Statement (5 February 1921), p. 40
• Letter to an atheist (24 March 1954), p. 43
• From the same 24 March 1954 letter as above, p. 44
• Letter (30 July 1947), p. 46
• Letter to Queen Mother Elizabeth of Belgium (20 March, likely 1936), written to her when she was depressed over the recent death of her husband and daughter-in-law, p. 51

• Jotted (in German) on the margins of a letter to him (1933), p. 56
• Unsourced variants: Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. / You can't blame gravity for falling in love.
• Letter to California student E. Holzapfel (March 1951) Einstein Archive 59-1013, p. 57
• c. 1946, p. 63-64
• c. 1948, p. 54
• p. 66 of the 1981 edition
• Letter to Cornel Lanczos (21 March 1942), p. 68

• Written statement (September 1937), p. 70

• Letter (26 April 1945), p. 72
• Letter to Adrianna Enriques (October 1921), p. 83
• Letter to the minister of a church in Brooklyn (20 November 1950), p. 95. The minister had earlier written Einstein asking if he would send him a signed version of a quote about the Catholic church attributed to Einstein in Time magazine (see the #Misattributed section below), and Einstein had written back to say the quote was not correct, but that he was "gladly willing to write something else which would suit your purpose". According to the book, the minister replied "saying he was glad the statement had not been correct since he too had reservations about the historical role of the Church at large", and said that "he would leave the decision to Einstein as to the topic of the statement", to which Einstein replied with the statement above.
• Statement to Christian conference (27 January 1947), p. 96
• (28 September 1932), p. 106
• Response to a letter from an unemployed professional musician (5 April 1933), p. 115
• The editors precede this passage thus, "Early in 1933, Einstein received a letter from a professional musician who presumably lived in Munich. The musician was evidently troubled and despondent, and out of a job, yet at the same time, he must have been something of a kindred spirit. His letter is lost, all that survives being Einstein's reply....Note the careful anonymity of the first sentence — the recipient would be safer that way:" Albert Einstein: The Human Side concludes with this passage, followed by the original passages in German.

Albert Einstein: A guide for the perplexed (1979)

• Told by P. Morrison
• From Lettre à Maurice Solvine , by A. Einstein (Gauthier-Villars: Paris 1956)
• From Albert Einstein and the Cosmic World Order , by C. Lanczos (Wiley, New York, 1956)

Einstein and the Poet (1983)

First conversation (1930):

• p. 31; spoken on hearing German marchers singing war songs. On p. 474 of Alice Calaprice's The Ultimate Quotable Einstein , she lists "we only use 10 percent of our brain" as a quote "misattributed to Einstein", perhaps this is the source of the misquote? Einstein seems to be speaking metaphorically here, not endorsing the myth that science has shown 90 percent of the neurons in our brain lie dormant. And the myth dates back to before this interview, for example the book Mind Myths: Exploring Popular Assumptions About the Mind and Brain , edited by Sergio Della Salla, has a chapter by Barry L. Beyerstein titled "Whence Cometh the Myth that We Only Use 10% of our Brains?" which shows on p. 11 an advertisement from the 1929 World Almanac containing the line "There is NO LIMIT to what the human brain can accomplish. Scientists and psychologists tell us we use only about TEN PER CENT of our brain power."

Second conversation (1943):

Third conversation (1948):

Fourth conversation (1954):

• Variant transcription from "Death of a Genius" in Life Magazine : "I cannot accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or the fear of death, or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar."
• Variant transcription from "Death of a Genius" in Life Magazine : "Certainly there are things worth believing. I believe in the brotherhood of man and the uniqueness of the individual. But if you ask me to prove what I believe, I can't. You know them to be true but you could spend a whole lifetime without being able to prove them. The mind can proceed only so far upon what it knows and can prove. There comes a point where the mind takes a leap—call it intuition or what you will—and comes out upon a higher plane of knowledge, but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap."
• Unsourced variant: "The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you do not know how or why. All great discoveries are made in this way." The earliest published version of this variant appears to be The Human Side of Scientists by Ralph Edward Oesper (1975), p. 58 , but no source is provided, and the similarity to the "Life Magazine" quote above suggests it's likely a misquote.
• In response to statement "You once told me that progress is made only by intuition, and not by the accumulation of knowledge."
• Variant transcription from "Death of a Genius" in Life Magazine : "It is not quite so simple. Knowledge is necessary too. A child with great intuition could not grow up to become something worthwhile in life without some knowledge. However there comes a point in everyone's life where only intuition can make the leap ahead, without knowing precisely how.":
• Variant transcription from "Death of a Genius" in Life Magazine : "Then do not stop to think about the reasons for what you are doing, about why you are questioning. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reasons for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. Never lose a holy curiosity."
• Variant transcription from "Death of a Genius" in Life Magazine : "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives."

Einstein's God (1997)

• The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer.

• Letter to Rabbi Solomon Goldman of Chicago's Anshe Emet Congregation, p. 51
• Reply to a Roman Catholic student urging him to pray to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and convert to Christianity.
• Comment on the Union of Orthodox Rabbis after they had expelled a rabbi because of his disbelief in God as a personal entity.

Einstein and Religion (1999)

• Foreword of "Man and his Gods" by Homer W. Smith
• From a letter to Eduard Büsching (25 October 1929) after Büsching sent Einstein a copy of his book Es gibt keinen Gott [ There Is no God ]. Einstein responded that the book only dealt with the concept of a personal God, p. 51
• Interview with J. Murphy and J. W. N. Sullivan (1930), p. 68
• Letter in response to sixth-grader Phyllis Wright, asking whether scientists pray, and if so, what they pray for (24 January 1936) p. 92-93
• Letter (7 August 1941) discussing responses to his essay "Science and Religion" (1941), p. 97
• Letter to his friend Maurice Solovine (1 January 1951) p. 120
• Letter to Beatrice F. in response to a question about whether he was a "free thinker" (17 December 1952), p. 121
• As quoted in "A Talk with Einstein" in The Listener 54 (1955) p. 123
• From a letter to Murray W. Gross (26 April 1947), p. 138
• http://umich.edu/~scps/html/01chap/html/summary.htm
• As quoted in Journal of France and Germany (1942–1944) by Gilbert Fowler White , in excerpt published in Living with Nature's Extremes: The Life of Gilbert Fowler White (2006) by Robert E. Hinshaw, p. 62. From the context it seems that White did not specify whether he had heard Einstein himself say this or whether he was repeating a quote that had been passed along by someone else, so without a primary source the validity of this quote should be considered questionable. Some have argued that elsewhere Einstein defined a "miracle" as a type of event he did not believe was possible— Einstein on Religion by Max Jammer (1999) quotes on p. 89 from a 1931 conversation Einstein had with David Reichinstein, where Reichinstein brought up philosopher Arthur Liebert's argument that the indeterminism of quantum mechanics might allow for the possibility of miracles, and Einstein replied that Liebert's argument dealt "with a domain in which lawful rationality [determinism] does not exist. A 'miracle,' however, is an exception from lawfulness; hence, there where lawfulness does not exist, also its exception, i.e., a miracle, cannot exist." (" Dort, wo eine Gesetzmässigkeit nicht vorhanden ist, kann auch ihre Ausnahme, d.h. ein Wunder, nicht existieren. " D. Reichenstein, Die Religion der Gebildeten (1941), p. 21). However, it is clear from the context that Einstein was stating only that miracles cannot exist in a domain (quantum mechanics) where lawful rationality does not exist. He did not claim that miracles could never exist in any domain. Indeed, Einstein clearly believed, as seen in many quotations above, that the universe was comprehensible and rational, but he also described this characteristic of the universe as a "miracle". In another example, he is quoted as claiming belief in a God, "Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world."
• As quoted in From Yale to Jail: The Life Story of a Moral Dissenter (1993) by David T. Dellinger , p. 418
• No known source; it appears to be a paraphrase of the last sentence of Einstein's "An Ideal of Service to Our Fellow Man" . Earliest known attribution is in the Washingon Afro-American , AFRO Magazine Section , Sept 21, 1954, p. 2
• The measure of intelligence is the ability to change
• Attributed without source to Einstein in Mieczyslaw Taube, Evolution of Matter and Energy on a Cosmic and Planetary Scale (1985), page 1
• Attributed in FBI Memo, February 13, 1950 (item 61-4099-25 in Einstein's FBI file—viewable online as p. 72 of "Albert Einstein Part 1 of 14" here , as well as p. 72 of the pdf file which can be downloaded here ). There is no other information in the FBI's released files as to what source attributed this statement to Einstein, and the files are full of falsehoods, including the accusation that Einstein was secretly pro-communist.
• The Ultimate Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice lists this as "probably not by Einstein". However, this post from quoteinvestigator.com traces it to a reasonably plausible source: the second part of a three-part series by Lincoln Barrett (former editor of 'Life' magazine) titled "The Universe and Dr. Einstein" in Harper's Magazine, from May 1948, in which Barrett wrote "But as Einstein has pointed out, common sense is actually nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind prior to the age of eighteen." Since he didn't put the statement in quotes it could be a paraphrase, and "as Einstein has pointed out" makes it unclear whether Einstein said this personally to Barrett or Barrett was recalling a quote of Einstein's he'd seen elsewhere. In any case, the interview was republished in a book of the same title, and Einstein wrote a foreword which praised Barrett's work on the book, so it's likely he read the quote about common sense and at least had no objection to it, whether or not he recalled making the specific comment.
• Unsourced variant: Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
• Variants: "... is man's greatest invention" and "... is the eighth wonder of the world".
• May add: "He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn't, pays it."
• This Snopes article concluded that its status was uncertain, while this post from The Quote Investigator concludes it is most likely a false attribution, since variants of the quote date back to at least 1916, with the early variants not being attributed to Einstein.
• Found in Montana Libraries: Volumes 8-14 (1954), p. cxxx . The story is given as follows: "In the current New Mexico Library Bulletin, Elizabeth Margulis tells a story of a woman who was a personal friend of the late dean of scientists, Dr. Albert Einstein. Motivated partly by her admiration for him, she held hopes that her son might become a scientist. One day she asked Dr. Einstein's advice about the kind of reading that would best prepare the child for this career. To her surprise, the scientist recommended 'Fairy tales and more fairy tales.' The mother protested that she was really serious about this and she wanted a serious answer; but Dr. Einstein persisted, adding that creative imagination is the essential element in the intellectual equipment of the true scientist, and that fairy tales are the childhood stimulus to this quality." However, it is unclear from this description whether Margulis heard this story personally from the woman who had supposedly had this discussion with Einstein, and the relevant issue of the New Mexico Library Bulletin does not appear to be online.
• Variant: "First, give him fairy tales; second, give him fairy tales, and third, give him fairy tales!" Found in The Wilson Library Bulletin , Vol. 37 from 1962, which says on p. 678 that this quote was reported by "Doris Gates, writer and children's librarian".
• Variant: "Fairy tales ... More fairy tales ... Even more fairy tales". Found in Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales by Jack Zipes (1979), p. 1 .
• Variant: "If you want your children to be brilliant, tell them fairy tales. If you want them to be very brilliant, tell them even more fairy tales." Found in Chocolate for a Woman's Heart & Soul by Kay Allenbaugh (1998), p. 57 . This version can be found in Usenet posts from before 1998, like this one from 1995 .
• Variant: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Found in Mad, Bad and Dangerous?: The Scientist and the Cinema by Christopher Frayling (2005), p. 6 .
• Variant: "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Found in Super joy English, Volume 8 by 佳音事業機構 (2006), p. 87
• Although similar to many of Einstein's comments about the importance of intuition and imagination, no sources for this can be found prior to The Psychology of Consciousness by Robert Evan Ornstein (1973), p. 68 , where there is no mention of where the quote was originally made. A number of early sources from the 1980s and 1990s attribute it to The Intuitive Edge by Philip Goldberg (1983), which also provides no original source.
• As discussed in this entry from The Quote Investigator , the earliest published attribution of a similar quote to Einstein seems to have been in Gestalt therapist Frederick S. Perls ' 1969 book Gestalt Theory Verbatim , where he wrote on p. 33: "As Albert Einstein once said to me: 'Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity.' But what is much more widespread than the actual stupidity is the playing stupid, turning off your ear, not listening, not seeing." Perls also offered another variant in his 1972 book In and Out the Garbage Pail , where he mentioned a meeting with Einstein and on p. 52 quoted him saying: "Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not yet completely sure about the universe." However, Perls had given yet another variant of this quote in an earlier book, Ego, Hunger, and Aggression: a Revision of Freud's Theory and Method (originally published 1942, although the Quote Investigator only checked that the quote appeared in the 1947 edition), where he attributed it not to Einstein but to a "great astronomer", writing: "As modern times promote hasty eating to a large extent, it is not surprising to learn that a great astronomer said: 'Two things are infinite, as far as we know – the universe and human stupidity.' To-day we know that this statement is not quite correct. Einstein has proved that the universe is limited." So, the later attributions in 1969 and 1972 may have been a case of faulty memory, or of intentionally trying to increase the authority of the quote by attributing it to Einstein. The quote itself may be a variant of a similar quote attributed even earlier to the philosopher Ernest Renan , found for example in The Public: Volume 18 from 1915, which says on p. 1126 : "He quotes the saying of Renan: it isn't the stars that give him an idea of infinity; it is man's stupidity." (Other examples of similar attributions to Renan can be found on this Google Books search .) Renan was French so this is presumably intended as a translation, but different sources give different versions of the supposed original French quote, such as " La bêtise humaine est la seule chose qui donne une idée de l'infini " (found for example in Réflexions sur la vie, 1895-1898 by Remy de Gourmont from 1903, p. 103 , along with several other early sources as seen in this search ) and " Ce n'est pas l'immensité de la voûte étoilée qui peut donner le plus complétement l'idée de l'infini, mais bien la bêtise humaine! " (found in Broad views, Volume 2 from 1904, p. 465 ). Since these variants have not been found in Renan's own writings, they may represent false attributions as well. They may also be variants of an even older saying; for example, the 1880 book Des vers by Guy de Maupassant includes on p. 9 a quote from a letter (dated February 19, 1880) by Gustave Flaubert where Flaubert writes " Cependant, qui sait? La terre a des limites, mais la bêtise humaine est infinie! " which translates to "But who knows? The earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is infinite!" Similarly the 1887 book Melanges by Jules-Paul Tardivel includes on p. 273 a piece said to have been written in 1880 in which he writes " Aujourd'hui je sais qu'il n'y a pas de limites à la bêtise humaine, qu'elle est infinie " which translates to "today I know that there is no limit to human stupidity, it is infinite."
• Variant: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Earliest version located is in Technocracy digest: Issues 287–314 from 1988, p. 76 . Translated to German as: " Zwei Dinge sind unendlich: das Universum und die menschliche Dummheit. Aber beim Universum bin ich mir nicht ganz sicher. " (Earliest version located - "Zwei Dinge sind unendlich, das Universum und die menschliche Dummheit . . . Und beim Universum bin ich mir noch keineswegs sicher" - in Hans Askenasy: Sind wir alle Nazis? Zum Potential der Unmenschlichkeit , Campus Verlag Frankfurt/Main 1979, p. 153 books.google .)
• The source generally (but falsely) cited is Einstein's The World As I See It (1949). The quotation is probably a translation of " Der Zufall ist das Pseudonym, das der liebe Gott wählt, wenn er inkognito bleiben will " (attributed to Albert Schweitzer ).
• "Einstein's famous saying in Copenhagen", as quoted in a FBIS Daily Report : East Europe (4 April 1995), p. 45
• Attributed to Einstein in Treasury of the Christian Faith (1949) p. 415 books.google , and subsequently repeated in other books. No original source where Einstein supposedly said this has been located, and it is absent from authoritative sources such as Calaprice, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein .
• Variant: If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.
• There is no indication that Einstein said this. According to Quote Investigator, the earliest publication of a quote similar was in a collection of articles about manufacturing in 1966, when an employee of the Stainless Processing Company wrote a piece titled "The Manufacturing Manager's Skills." The article attributed the quote to an unnamed professor at Yale, by saying, "If I had only one hour to solve a problem, I would spend up to two-thirds of that hour in attempting to define what the problem is." (See, 1966, The Manufacturing Man and His Job by Robert E. Finley and Henry R. Ziobro, "The Manufacturing Manager's Skills" by William H. Markle (Vice President, Stainless Processing Company, Chicago, Illinois), Start Page 15, Quote Page 18, Published by American Management Association, Inc., New York. Verified on paper). https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/05/22/solve/

Misattributed

• I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.
• I fear the day when technology overlaps our humanity. It will be then that the world will have permanent ensuing generations of idiots.
• It's become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.
• Although it is a popular quote on the internet, there is no substantial evidence that Einstein actually said that. It does not appear in "The Ultimate Quotable Einstein" from Princeton University Press nor in any reliable source. " Quote Investigator " concluded that it probably emerged as a meme on the internet as late as 2012.
• This or similar statements are more often misattributed to Herbert Spencer , but the source of the phrase "contempt prior to investigation" seems to have been William Paley , A View of the Evidences of Christianity (1794): "The infidelity of the Gentile world, and that more especially of men of rank and learning in it, is resolved into a principle which, in my judgment, will account for the inefficacy of any argument, or any evidence whatever, viz . contempt prior to examination."

Being a lover of freedom, when the revolution came in Germany, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but, no, the universities immediately were silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks. Then I looked to individual writers who, as literary guides of Germany, had written much and often concerning the place of freedom in modern life; but they, too, were mute.

Only the church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration because the church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual truth and moral freedom. I am forced thus to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly.

• Attributed in "The Conflict Between Church And State In The Third Reich", by S. Parkes Cadman , La Crosse Tribune and Leader-Press (28 October 1934), viewable online on p. 9 of the issue here (double-click the page to zoom). The quote is preceded by "In this connection it is worth quoting in free translation a statement made by Professor Einstein last year to one of my colleagues who has been prominently identified with the Protestant church in its contacts with Germany." [Emphasis added.] While based on something that Einstein said, Einstein himself stated that the quote was not an accurate record of his words or opinion. After the quote appeared in Time magazine (23 December 1940), p. 38 , a minister in Harbor Springs, Michigan wrote to Einstein to check if the quote was real. Einstein wrote back " It is true that I made a statement which corresponds approximately with the text you quoted. I made this statement during the first years of the Nazi-Regime — much earlier than 1940 — and my expressions were a little more moderate. " (March 1943) [9]

The wording of the statement you have quoted is not my own. Shortly after Hitler came to power in Germany I had an oral conversation with a newspaper man about these matters. Since then my remarks have been elaborated and exaggerated nearly beyond recognition. I cannot in good conscience write down the statement you sent me as my own. The matter is all the more embarrassing to me because I, like yourself, I am predominantly critical concerning the activities, and especially the political activities, through history of the official clergy. Thus, my former statement, even if reduced to my actual words (which I do not remember in detail) gives a wrong impression of my general attitude.

• Variant: The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs, it would be Buddhism.
• These two statements are very similar, widely quoted, and seem to paraphrase some ideas in the essay " Religion and Science " (see below), but neither of the two specific quotes above been properly sourced. Notable Einstein scholars such as John Stachel and Thomas J. McFarlane (author of Buddha and Einstein: The Parallel Sayings ) know of this statement but have not found any source for it. Any information on any definite original sources for these is welcome.
• This quote does not actually appear in Albert Einstein: The Human Side as is sometimes claimed.
• Only two sources from before 1970 can be found on Google Books. The first is The Theosophist: Volume 86 which seems to cover the years 1964 and 1965 . The quote appears attributed to Einstein on p. 255 , with the wording given as "The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description." An identical quote appears on p. 284 of The Maha Bodhi: Volume 72 published by the Maha Bodhi Society of India, which seems to contain issues from throughout 1964 .
• A number of phrases in the quote are similar to phrases in Einstein's "Religion and Science". Comparing the version of the quote in The Theosophist to the version of "Religion and Science" published in 1930, "a cosmic religion" in the first resembles "the cosmic religious sense" in the second; "transcend a personal God" resembles "does not involve an anthropomorphic idea of God"; "covering both the natural and the spiritual" resembles "revealed in nature and in the world of thought"; "the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity" resembles "experience the totality of existence as a unity full of significance"; and "Buddhism answers this description" resembles "The cosmic element is much stronger in Buddhism". These phrases appear in the same order in both cases, and the ones from "Religion and Science" are all from a single paragraph of the essay.
• These have appeared in youtube videos under titles sometimes similar to "5 Things not to Share with Anyone (Albert Einstein)"
• Attributed in emails in 1999, as debunked at "Malice of Absence" at Snopes.com
• This statement has been attributed to others before Einstein; its first attribution to Einstein appears to have been in an email story that began circulating in 2004. See the Urban Legends Reference Pages for more discussion.
• Earliest attribution located is The Yogi and the Commissar by Arthur Koestler (1945), p. v . Koestler prefaces it with "My comfort is what Einstein said when somebody reproached him with the suggestion that his formula of gravitation was longer and more cumbersome than Newton's formula in its elegant simplicity". This is actually a variant of a quote Einstein attributed to Ludwig Boltzmann ; in the Preface to his Relativity—The Special and General Theory (1916), Einstein wrote: "I adhered scrupulously to the precept of that brilliant theoretical physicist L. Boltzmann, according to whom matters of elegance ought to be left to the tailor and to the cobbler." (reprinted in the 2007 book A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Scientific Works of Albert Einstein edited by Stephen Hawking, p. 128 )
• If Einstein said this, he was almost certainly quoting philosopher Immanuel Kant 's words from the conclusion to the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), translated in Paul Guyer's The Cambridge Companion to Kant ( p. 1 ) as: "Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me."
• This is similar to a quote attributed to Mark Twain : "I never let my schooling get in the way of my education". The earliest published source located attributing the quote to Einstein is the 1999 book Career Management for the Creative Person by Lee T. Silber, p. 130 , while the earliest published source located for the Mark Twain quote is the 1996 book Children at Risk by C. Niall McElwee, p. 45 . Both quotes appeared on the internet before that: the earliest post located that attributes the quote to Einstein is this one from 11 February 1994 , while the earliest located that attributes the variant to Mark Twain is this one from 28 March 1988
• This quote does appear in Einstein's 1940 essay "The Fundaments of Physics" which can be found in his book Out of My Later Years (1950), but Einstein does not claim credit for it, instead calling it " Lessing 's fine saying".
• Earliest source located that attributes this to Einstein is the 1975 book The Nature of Scientific Discovery: A Symposium Commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus edited by Owen Gingerich, p. 585 . But long before that, the 1944 book Einstein: An Intimate Study of a Great Man by Dimitri Marianoff and Palma Wayne contains the following quote on p. 62: "But Einstein came along and took space and time out of the realm of stationary things and put them in the realm of relativity—giving the onlooker dominion over time and space, because time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live." It appears from the quote that the authors were giving their own description of Einstein's ideas, not quoting him.
• variant: If you can't explain something to a six-year-old, you really don't understand it yourself.
• variant: If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
• Frequently attributed to Richard Feynman
• Probably based on a similar quote about explaining physics to a "barmaid" by Ernest Rutherford
• Page 418 of Einstein: His Life and Times (1972) by Ronald W. Clark says that Louis de Broglie did attribute a similar statement to Einstein: To de Broglie, Einstein revealed an instinctive reason for his inability to accept the purely statistical interpretation of wave mechanics. It was a reason which linked him with Rutherford, who used to state that "it should be possible to explain the laws of physics to a barmaid." Einstein, having a final discussion with de Broglie on the platform of the Gare du Nord in Paris, whence they had traveled from Brussels to attend the Fresnel centenary celebrations, said "that all physical theories, their mathematical expressions apart ought to lend themselves to so simple a description 'that even a child could understand them.' "
• The de Broglie quote is from his 1962 book New Perspectives in Physics , p. 184 .
• Cf. this quote from David Hilbert 's talk Mathematical Problems given in 1900 before the International Congress of Mathematicians: "A mathematical theory is not to be considered complete until you have made it so clear that you can explain it to the first man whom you meet on the street."
• Cf. this quote from Kurt Vonnegut 's novel Cat's Cradle :
• Earliest published version found on Google Books with this phrasing is in the 1993 book The Internet Companion: A Beginner's Guide to Global Networking by Tracy L. LaQuey and Jeanne C. Ryer, p. 25 . However, the quote seems to have been circulating on the internet earlier than this, appearing for example in this post from 1987 and this one from 1985 . No reference has been found that cites a source in Einstein's original writings, and the quote appears to be a variation of an old joke that dates at least as far back as 1866, as discussed in this entry from the "Quote Investigator" blog . A variant was told by Thomas Edison , appearing in The Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison (1948), p. 216 : "When I was a little boy, persistently trying to find out how the telegraph worked and why, the best explanation I ever got was from an old Scotch line repairer who said that if you had a dog like a dachshund long enough to reach from Edinburgh to London, if you pulled his tail in Edinburgh he would bark in London. I could understand that. But it was hard to get at what it was that went through the dog or over the wire." A variant of Edison's comment can be found in the 1910 book Edison, His Life and Inventions, Volume 1 by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin, p. 53 .
• Variant, earliest known published version is How to Think Like Einstein by Scott Thorpe (2000), p. 61 . Appeared on the internet before that, as in this archived page from 12 October 1999
• Actually said by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. in his book The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table : "Every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation, and never shrinks back to its former dimensions."
• German quote attributed to Einstein in Huters astrologischer Kalender 1960 [A]
• Translated by Tad Mann, unidentified 1987 work
• Contradicted by Denis Hamel, The End of the Einstein-Astrology-Supporter Hoax , Skeptical Inquirer , Vol. 31, No. 6 (Nov-Dec 2007), pp. 39-43
• Alice Calaprice, The Expanded Quotable Einstein : "Attributed to Einstein [...] An excellent example of a quotation someone made up and attributed to Einstein in order to lend an idea credibility."
• A variation on a quotation of Alexander Pope , attributed to Einstein in various recent sources, such as Marvin Minsky 's The Emotion Machine (2006), p. 176 , and at the start of the 2006 pilot episode of the television series Eureka . The oldest published source located attributing this to Einstein is the 2004 book Strategic Investment: Real Options and Games by Han T. J. Smit and Lenos Trigeorgis, p. 429 , and before that it was attributed to him on the internet, the earliest example found being this post from 19 May 1995 . But long before that, the same quote appears in an advertisement for Encyclopaedia Britannica that ran in The Atlantic Monthly: Volume 216 from 1965, p. 139 . The ad mentioned Einstein but did not directly attribute the quote to him: "Encyclopaedia Britannica says: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot. The more you know, the more you need to know — as Albert Einstein, for one, might have told you. Great knowledge has a way of bringing with it great responsibility. The people who put the Encyclopaedia Britannica together feel the same way. After all, if most of the world had come to count on you as the best single source of complete, accurate, up-to-date information on everything, you'd want to be pretty sure you knew what you were talking about."
• Actually written by E. F. Schumacher in a 1973 essay titled "Small is Beautiful" which appeared in The Radical Humanist: volume 37 , p. 22 . Earliest published source found on Google Books attributing this to Einstein is BMJ: The British Medical Journal , volume 319, 23 October 1999, p. 1102 . It was attributed to Einstein on the internet somewhat before that, for example in this 1997 post .
• The earliest published source located on Google Books attributing this to Einstein is the 2000 book The Internet Handbook for Writers, Researchers, and Journalists by Mary McGuire, p. 14 . It was attributed to him on the internet before that, as in this post from 1997 . Variants of the quote can be found well before this however, as in the 1989 book Urban Surface Water Management by S. G. Walesh, which on p. 315 contains the statement (said to have been 'stated anonymously'): "The computer is incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Man is unbelievably slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. The marriage of the two is a challenge and opportunity beyond imagination." Even earlier, the article "A Paper Industry Application of Systems Engineering and Direct Digital Control" by H. D. Couture, Jr. and M. A. Keyes, which appears in the 1969 Advances in Instrumentation: Vol. 24, Part 4 , has a statement on this page which uses phrasing similar to the supposed Einstein quote in describing computers and people: "Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. On the other hand, a well trained operator as compared with a computer is incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant." Variants with slightly different wording can be found earlier than 1969, as in this April 1968 article . The earliest source located, and most likely the origin of this saying, is an article titled "Problems, Too, Have Problems" by John Pfeiffer, which appeared in the October 1961 issue of Fortune magazine. As quoted here , Pfeiffer's article contained the line "Man is a slow, sloppy, and brilliant thinker; computers are fast, accurate, and stupid."
• Einstein did write this quote in "On Education" from 1936, which appeared in Out of My Later Years , but it was not his own original quip, he attributed it to an unnamed "wit".
• Very popular in French: " La culture est ce qui reste lorsque l'on a tout oublié " (Culture is that which remains, if one has forgotten everything). Attributed in French to Édouard Herriot (1872-1957) and, in English, sometimes to Ortega y Gasset . Another French variant is "la culture est ce qui reste lorsqu'on a oublié toutes les choses apprises" (Culture is that which remains if one has forgotten everything one has learned), which appears in the 1912 book Propos Critiques by Georges Duhamel , p. 14 . And another English variant is "Culture is that which remains with a man when he has forgotten all he has learned" which appears in The Living Age: Volume 335 from 1929, p. 159 , where it is attributed to "Edouard Herriot, French Minister of Education". Another English variant is "Education is that which remains behind when all we have learned at school is forgotten", which appears in The Education Outlook, vol. 60 p. 532 (from an issue dated 2 December 1907), where it is attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson .
• The saying is found in an 1891 article by Swedish writer Ellen Key , "Själamorden i skolorna", which was published in the journal "Verdandi", no. 2, pages 86-98 (the saying is on p. 97). The same article was republished later as a chapter in her 1900 book "Barnets Århundrade". Here is the quote in Swedish ( p. 160 ): Men bildning är lyckligtvis icke blott kunskap om fakta, utan enligt en ypperlig paradox: »det, som är kvar, sedan vi glömt allt, vad vi lärt». Here it is from the 1909 English translation of the book ( p. 231 ): "But education happily is not simply the knowledge of facts, it is, as an admirable paradox has put it, what is left over after we have forgotten all we have learnt." From the way Ellen Key puts it, she doesn't take credit for the saying, but rather refers to it as an already known "paradox" that she explicitly puts between quotation marks.
• A variant — "Professor Einstein, the learned scientist, once calculated that if all bees disappeared off the earth, four years later all humans would also have disappeared" — appears in The Irish Beekeeper , v.19-20, 1965-66, p74, citing Abeilles et Fleurs ( Bees and Flowers , the house magazine of Union Nationale de l'Apiculture Française) for June 1965. Snopes.com mentions its use in a beekeepers' protest in 1994 in Europe [11] suggesting invention and attribution to Einstein for political reasons.
• Multiple variations of this quote can be found, but the earliest one on Google Books which uses the phrase "friendly or hostile" and attributes it to Einstein is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spiritual Healing by Susan Gregg (2000), p. 5 , and this book gives no source for the quote.
• A variant is found in Irving Oyle's The New American Medicine Show (1979) on p. 163, where Oyle writes: 'There is a story about Albert Einstein's view of human existence. Asked to pose the most vital question facing humanity, he replied, "Is the universe friendly?"' This variant is repeated in a number of books from the 1980s and 90s, so it probably pre-dates the "friendly or hostile" version. And the idea that the most important question we can ask is "Is the universe friendly?" dates back much earlier than the attribution to Einstein, for example in Emil Carl Wilm's 1912 book The Problem of Religion he includes the following footnote on p. 114 : 'A friend proposed to the late F. W. H. Myers the following question: "What is the thing which above all others you would like to know? If you could ask the Sphinx one question, and only one, what would the question be?" After a moment's silence Myers replied: "I think it would be this: Is the universe friendly?"'
• Variously attributed also to Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain . The earliest known occurrence, and probable origin, is from a 1981 text from Narcotics Anonymous : "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results." Cf. Rita Mae Brown#Misattributed .
• It seems that this quote has only begun to be attributed to Einstein recently, the earliest published source located being the 2008 book Visualization for Dummies by Bernard Golden, p. 85 . Before that it was often attributed to the physicist John Wheeler , who quoted the saying in Complexity, Entropy, and the Physics of Information , p. 10 . In fact, this quip is much older; the earliest source located is Ray Cummings ' 1921 short story "The Time Professor", which includes the passage : '"I do know what time is," Tubby declared. He paused. "Time," he added slowly -- "time is what keeps everything from happening at once ...".' Cummings repeated the quote in his 1922 science fiction novel The Girl in the Golden Atom , available on Project Gutenberg here (according to Science-Fiction: The Early Years by Everett F. Bleiler, p. 171 , the novel was a composite of two earlier stories published in 1919 and 1920). Chapter V contains the following paragraph: The Big Business Man smiled. "Time," he said, "is what keeps everything from happening at once." The next-earliest source found for this quote is another book by Ray Cummings, The Man Who Mastered Time from 1929, and no published examples of the quote from authors other than Cummings can be found until the 1962 Film Facts: Volume 5 where it appears on p. 48 . So, it seems likely that Ray Cummings is the real originator of this saying.
• From William Bruce Cameron's Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963), p. 13. The comment is part of a longer paragraph and does not appear in quotations in Cameron's book, and other sources such as The Student's Companion to Sociology (p. 92) attribute the quote to Cameron. A number of recent books claim that Einstein had a sign with these words in his office in Princeton, but until a reliable historical source can be found to support this, skepticism is warranted. The earliest source on Google Books that mentions the quote in association with Einstein and Princeton is Charles A. Garfield's 1986 book Peak Performers: The New Heroes of American Business, in which he wrote on p. 156: Albert Einstein liked to underscore the micro/macro partnership with a remark from Sir George Pickering that he chalked on the blackboard in his office at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton: "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."
• According to The Quote Verifier (2006) by Ralph Keyes, Einstein never said any such thing. (According to p. 285 of the book's "source notes" Keyes checked New Statesman 16 April 1965, which is commonly cited as the source of this quote. Some other books claim it is from New Statesman 16 April 1955 and at least one has it as 1945, but a Google Books search with the date range restricted to 1900-1995 shows that all the earliest sources give it as 1965. This includes the earliest source located, The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations from 1971, as can be verified by this search .) Keyes notes that Einstein "did use similar words to make a very different point" when he wrote, in a 1954 letter to the editor at The Reporter magazine, "If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances."
• Similarly, in Einstein and the Poet by William Hermanns, p. 86 , Einstein is quoted saying the following in a 1948 interview: "If I should be born again, I will become a cobbler and do my thinking in peace."
• The earliest published attribution of this quote to Einstein found on Google Books is the 1991 book The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis by Raj Jain (p. 507), but no source to Einstein's original writings is given and the quote itself is older; for example New Guard: Volume 5, Issue 3 from 1961 says on p. 312 "Someone once said that if the facts do not fit the theory, then the facts must be changed", while Product engineering: Volume 29, Issues 9-12 from 1958 gives the slight variant on p. 9 "There is an age-old adage, 'If the facts don't fit the theory, change the theory.' But too often it's easier to keep the theory and change the facts." These quotes are themselves probably variants of an even earlier saying which used the phrasing "so much the worse for the facts", many examples of which can be seen in this search ; for example, the 1851 American Whig Review, Volumes 13-14 says on p. 488 "However, Mr. Newhall may possibly have been of that casuist's opinion, who, when told that the facts of the matter did not bear out his hypothesis, said 'So much the worse for the facts.'" The German idealist philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte circa 1800 did say "If theory conflicts with the facts, so much the worse for the facts." The Hungarian Marxist Georg Lukacs in his "Tactics and Ethics" (1923) echoed the same quotation.
• Commonly quoted on the internet, and also in recent books such as Planetary Survival Manual by Matthew Stein (2000), p. 51.
• Stein's book is the earliest published source located with that precise version of the quote, but the quote can be found in earlier Usenet posts such as this one from 1995 , and other published variants of the quote using the words "sacred gift" can be found earlier. A Google Books search with the date range restricted to 1900-1990 shows only a handful in the 1980s and 1970s, and several of them attribute it to The Metaphoric Mind by Bob Samples (1976), which also seems to be the earliest published variant. Samples does not provide an exact quote, but writes on p. 26: "Albert Einstein called the intuitive or metaphoric mind a sacred gift. He added that the rational mind was a faithful servant. It is paradoxical that in the context of modern life we have begun to worship the servant and defile the divine." It seems as if the last sentence about worshipping the servant is just Samples' own comment (though in later variants it became part of the supposed quote), while the earlier sentences only paraphrase something that Samples claims Einstein to have said. Einstein had many quotes about the value of intuition and imagination, but the specific word "gift" can be found in a comment remembered by János Plesch in the section Attributed in posthumous publications , "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 my talent for absorbing positive knowledge." So, Bob Samples might have been paraphrasing that comment. Likewise Einstein had a number of quotes about the intellect being secondary to intuition, but the language of the intellect "serving" can be found in a quote from the Out of My Later Years (1950) section, "And certainly we should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. It cannot lead, it can only serve; and it is not fastidious in its choice of a leader."
• Commonly quoted on the internet, this quote is actually from Karl Grossman, via his 1980 book Cover Up: What You are Not Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power (p. 155; freely available online via its publisher ; see PDF page 187).
• Variant: If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind then what are we to think of an empty desk?
• Variant: If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?
• Attributed to Dr. Laurence J. Peter . Earliest source is "Peter's Quotations," page 333.
• According to Barbara Wolff, of The Hebrew University's Albert Einstein Archives, this is not one of Einstein's identifiable quotations. (Source: paralegalpie.com .)
• The phrase "the only source of knowledge is experience" is found in an English-language essay from 1896: "We can only be guided by what we know, and our only source of knowledge is experience" (Arthur J. Pillsbury, " "The Final Word" , Overland Monthly , November 1896). The thought can be seen as a paraphrase of John Locke's argument from his Essay Concerning Human Understanding : "Whence has it [the Mind] all the materials of Reason and Knowledge? To this I answer, in one Word, From Experience ". (Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding/Book II/Chapter I, 2 .)
• The phrase "information is not knowledge" is also found from the nineteenth century .
• As Quote Investigator explains, allegories about animals doing impossible things have been incredibly popular in the past century. But no, this one isn't from Einstein. (Source: [12] .)
• There's no evidence that Einstein ever said this. (Source: [13] .)
• The anthropologist Ashley Montagu said it in an interview with Einstein. (Source: [14] .)
• Found anonymously in newspaper columns from the early 1920s . Originally presented in dialogue format : "Dorcas—"Do you ever allow a man to kiss you when you're out motoring with him? Philippa—"Never, if a man can drive safely while kissing me he's not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."
• It does not seem to have been attributed to Einstein until the 1990s (e.g. here ).
• Google shows that the internet often attributes this statement to Einstein, but never with a source. It does not occur in any book in Google Books.
• An abbreviated version of a quote by California politician Dianne Feinstein , from an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine in October 1985 , on the topic of women running for public office. The original was: "... I really do have staying power. That's important for women who run for office. When you get in there and push for a lot of new things all at once and don't get them, you don't just leave. You have to commit, be a team player, learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play it better than anyone else."
• The original: "Example is not the main thing. It is the only thing. That is, if the one giving the example is not saying to himself, 'Behold I am giving an example." That spoils it. Anyone thinking of the example he will give to others has lost his simplicity. Only as a man has simplicity can his example influence others" is a quote by Albert Schweitzer , from a 1952 interview in United Nations World magazine . Not attributed to Einstein until the 1990s .
• debunked in 2014
• Quote from a deepfaked video of Albert Einstein in a British advert for electricity meters
• Imaginary quote from a deepfaked photograph of Albert Einstein in a British advert for electricity meters

"Never Share These Five Things with Anyone" misattributions on youtube

This has been repeated on many many youtube videos (one of them has over 2.5 million views: 5 Things Never Share With Anyone ( Albert Einstein )   ) under various titles but often with a "5 things" and "share" (never) theme. All five quotes are falsely attributed to Albert Einstein and elaborated on in the videos with short explanations. The 5 quotes don't seem to be misattributions found separately, they usually appear as a set as follows or in similar variation: "Never share: 1) the secret of your success 2) don't share your problems with anyone 3) Don't share your dreams with anyone. 4) Do not share with anyone how much you earn 5) Don't share your family problems with anyone"

Quotes about Einstein

• Joseph Agassi , Radiation Theory and the Quantum Revolution (1993)
• Stanislav Andreski , The Social Sciences as Sorcery (1972, London: Deutsch), p 86
• Bettina Aptheker Tapestries of Life: Women's Work, Women's Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989)
• Ernest Barnes , as quoted by Gerald James Whitrow , The Structure of the Universe: An Introduction to Cosmology (1949)
• Louis de Broglie , New Perspectives in Physics , p. 182
• Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man (1974), Ch. 7: The Majestic Clockwork
• John Brooke , as quoted in "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear" in The Guardian (13 May 2008)
• Alice Calaprice & Trevor Lipscombe, Albert Einstein: A Biography (2005)
• Sylvia Cranston HPB - The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement (New York: Putnam, 1994), p. 557-558.
• A. D'Abro, The Evolution of Scientific Thought from Newton to Einstein (1927) p. 37
• Paul Davies , Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe is Just Right for Life (2007)
• Ann Druyan , Cosmos: Possible Worlds (2020)
• Freeman Dyson , Disturbing the Universe (1979), p. 62.
• Freeman Dyson , Infinite in All Directions : Gifford Lectures given at Aberdeen, Scotland April-November 1985 (1988) p. 7 (paperback, 1989).
• Freeman Dyson , The Scientist As Rebel (2006)
• Freeman Dyson, "Birds and Frogs" (Oct. 4, 2008) AMS Einstein Public Lecture in Mathematics, as published in Notices of the AMS , (Feb, 2009). Also published in The Best Writing on Mathematics: 2010 (2011) p. 57.
• Freeman Dyson , "Einstein as a Jew and a Philosopher", The New York Review of Books (May 7, 2015)
• Patricia Fara , Science A Four Thousand Year History (2009)
• Graham Farmelo , " Bright life clouded by dark matter " (September 25, 2008)
• Richard Feynman , 1962-63, in Feynman Lectures on Gravitation (1995), Lecture 7
• Richard Feynman , interview published in Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (1988) edited by Paul C. W. Davies and Julian R. Brown
• Richard Feynman , as quoted in Collective Electrodynamics : Quantum Foundations of Electromagnetism (2002) by Carver A. Mead, p. xix
• Karen C. Fox, Aries Keck, Einstein A to Z (2004)
• Steven Gimbel, " Five reasons we should celebrate Albert Einstein " (12 June 2015)
• Domenico Giulini and Norbert Straumann, "Einstein's impact on the physics of the twentieth century", Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (2006)
• Sheldon Glashow , interview published in Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (1988) edited by Paul C. W. Davies and Julian R. Brown
• Temple Grandin , Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism (1995), p192
• John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin, Annus Mirabilis: 1905, Albert Einstein, and the Theory of Relativity (2005)
• " David Gross " interview, Superstrings: A Theory of Everything? (1992) ed. P.C.W. Davies, Julian Brown
• David Gross, "Einstein and the Search for Unification" , p. 1, in The legacy of Albert Einstein: a collection of essays in celebration of the year of physics (2007)
• Stephen Hawking , Lecture at the Amsterdam Symposium on Gravity, Black Holes, and String Theory (June 21, 1997)
• Gerald Holton , The Advancement of Science, and its Burdens (1986) p. 29.
• Sabine Hossenfelder, " Einstein's greatest legacy- How demons and angels advanced science " (October 27, 2014)
• Walter Isaacson , (December 2009)" How Einstein divided America's Jews ". The Atlantic 304 (5): 70–74. (quote from p. 70)
• Michio Kaku , Hyperspace: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension (1995)
• John Maynard Keynes , The New Statesman and Nation, 21 October 1933, published in Collected Writings volume xxviii pages 21-22
• Cornelius Lanczos, Albert Einstein and the Cosmic World Order (1965)
• Frederick Lindemann , obituary article in The Daily Telegraph , quoted in Lord Birkenhead, The Prof in Two Worlds: The Official Life of Professor F. A. Lindemann, Viscount Cherwell (1961), pp. 161-162
• Ralph Linton , The Study of Man (1936)
• W. H. McCrea , as quoted by G. J. Whitrow , Einstein, the Man and His Achievement (1973)
• Randall Munroe, " The Space Doctor's Big Idea " (Nov 18, 2015)
• Robert Oppenheimer in: Albert Einstein , The New York Review of Books.
• Barry Parker, Einstein's Dream: The Search for a Unified Theory of the Universe (1986)
• Barry Parker, Einstein's Dream: The Search for a Unified Theory of the Universe (1986) referring to the Einstein field equations of general relativity.
• Max Planck (with Walther Nernst, Heinrich Rubens and Emil Warburg ), (1913) letter of recommendation for membership in the Prussian Academy of Sciences (1913) Collected Papers of Albert Einstein (CPAE) Vol. 5, Doc. 445 (1993)
• Wolfgang Pauli , in statements after the Solvay Conference of 1927, as quoted in Physics and Beyond (1971) by Werner Heisenberg
• Wolfgang Pauli , Letter to Max Born (March 31, 1954) as quoted by P.W. Milonni, Fast Light, Slow Light and Left-Handed Light (2004)
• Karl Popper , in Unended Quest: An Intellectual Autobiography , p. 148
• John S. Rigden, Einstein 1905 : The Standard of Greatness (2005), Prologue: The Standard of Greatness: Why Einstein?
• Edward G. Robinson , as quoted in Leonard Spigelgass's epilogue to Robinson's All My Yesterdays: An Autobiography (1973), p. 279
• Bruce Rosenblum and Fred Kuttner, Quantum enigma : physics encounters consciousness (2nd ed., 2011), Ch. 1 : Einstein Called It "Spooky" And I Wish I Had Known
• Carlo Rovelli , The Order of Time (2018) p. 11.
• Muriel Rukeyser The Life of Poetry (1949)
• Bertrand Russell , Do Governments Desire War? (1932), a newspaper article for the "New York American" (as quoted in Mortals and Others , v.1, 1975)
• Bertrand Russell , in an interview with David Susskind (10 June 1962)
• Dennis Sciama , Interview of Dennis Sciama by Spencer Weart on 1978 April 14, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD USA .
• William Shatner , William Shatner And Lawrence Krauss Go To School . YouTube ( April 28, 2023 ). (quote at 50:02 of 1:34:32 in video; The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss )
• J. C. Squire , in "In continuation of Pope on Newton" (1926); Squire is here extending upon the famous statement of Alexander Pope :
• As quoted in The Epigrammatists : A Selection from the Epigrammatic Literature of Ancient, Mediæval, and Modern Times (1875) by Henry Philip Dodd, p. 329
• George Bernard Shaw , in a speech in honour of Einstein at the Savoy Hotel in London (28 October 1930)
• George Bernard Shaw , dinner speech, Savoy Hotel, London (Oct28, 1930) as quoted by Michael Holroyd , "Albert Einstein, Universe Maker," The New York Times (Mar14, 1991); Ref "axioms," see Julio A. Gonzalo, The Intelligible Universe (2008)
• Lee Smolin , " The Other Einstein ", The New York Review of Books (June 14, 2007)
• A. Douglas Stone, Einstein and the Quantum (2013), Introduction: A Hundred Times More Than Relativity Theory
• Ernst G. Strauss , in reminiscences of 1982, as quoted in "Gödel's Life and Work", by Solomon Feferman , in Kurt Gödel: Collected Works, Volume I : Publications 1929-1936 (1986), p. 2
• Studs Terkel , as quoted in "Voice of America" in The Guardian (1 March 2002)
• Eckhart Tolle , in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (2005)
• Diana Trilling Reviewing the Forties (1974)
• Heinrich Friedrich Weber, quoted in Seelig, Albert Einstein
• Attributed to Chaim Weizmann , after a long trans-Atlantic journey; Simpson's Contemporary Quotations (6822) credits Nigel Calder , Einstein's Universe (1979); a slightly different version appears in David Bodanis , E=mc² , which credits Carl Seelig, Albert Einstein: A Documentary Biography (1956), pp. 80–81
• Hermann Weyl , Space—Time—Matter (1922) Preface to 1st Edition (1918)
• Hermann Weyl , Space—Time—Matter (1922) p. 102
• John Archibald Wheeler , interviewed in Cosmic Search , Vol. 1, No. 4 ( Fall 1979 ). The three principles are sometimes attributed to Einstein himself, but no source can be found showing that Einstein stated them, and Wheeler didn't indicate in the interview whether he was quoting something Einstein had told him or giving his own description of how Einstein worked.
• Gerald James Whitrow , The Structure of the Universe: An Introduction to Cosmology (1949)
• Eugene Wigner , The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner (1992), Ch. 10. It Is Far Better to Have a Good Marriage Than a Quarrel
• Frank Wilczek & Betsy Devine , Longing for the Harmonies: Themes and Variations from Modern Physics (1987)
• Edward Witten , (22 December 2005)" Unravelling string theory ". Nature 438 (7071). DOI : 10.1038/4381085a .
• Working Class History (2020)
• Eliezer Yudkowsky , " Einstein's Speed " (21 May 2008)
• Albert Einstein and politics
• Annus Mirabilis papers
• EPR paradox
• On the Method of Theoretical Physics , Einstein's Herbert Spencer lecture at Oxford (June 10, 1933).
• The Meaning of Relativity (1922 book consisting of an English translation of four lectures given by Einstein in German at Princeton University in May 1921; with several subsequent editions)
• Theory of relativity
• Unified field theory
• Why Socialism?
• Bohr–Einstein debates

External links

• Collected Papers of Albert Einstein from Princeton University Press, in conjunction with the California Institute of Technology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Official Einstein ® website
• Einstein at the American Institute of Physics
• Einstein at the American Museum of Natural History
• NOVA : Einstein Revealed at PBS
• The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 — Albert Einstein
• Profile at the University of St Andrews, Scotland
• Einstein on Science and Religion
• Juergen Schmidhuber's Einstein biographical highlights
• Einstein's letter to Roosevelt
• Einstein family pictures
• Einstein's wife: Mileva Maric
• Albert Einstein Biography from "German-American corner: History and Heritage"
• Einstein Timeline
• Albert Einstein Archive at the University of Jerusalem
• Einstein Papers Project at Caltech (California Institute of Techology)
• Living Einstein at the Max Planck Institute
• Albert Einstein Online - a comprehensive listing of online resources about Einstein.
• Audio excerpts of famous speeches: e=mc2 & relativity , Impossibility of atomic energy , arms race (From Time magazine archives)
• Albert Einstein: The World as I see it .
• Albert Einstein: Why Socialism?
• Theory of relativity in 4-letter words or shorter
• Einstein and Religion (1999) by Max Jammer ( PDF document )
• "Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear" in The Guardian (13 May 2008)

• ↑ https://bcf.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Combined-Slides-4.pdf

• Activists from the United States
• Academics from the United States
• Nobel laureates in Physics
• Nobel laureates from Germany
• Nobel laureates from the United States
• Pages using ISBN magic links

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Resilience and Transformation in Octavia Butler’s Visionary World

This essay is about Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower,” highlighting the novel’s themes of survival, community, and the transformative power of belief. Set in a dystopian future, the story follows Lauren Olamina, a young woman with hyperempathy, as she navigates a world devastated by climate change and social collapse. Lauren’s creation of a new belief system, Earthseed, which emphasizes adaptability and the idea that “God is Change,” serves as a beacon of hope amidst chaos. The essay explores the realistic portrayal of societal breakdown, the importance of resilience, and Butler’s commentary on contemporary issues like environmental disaster and economic disparity. It also addresses themes of faith, spirituality, race, gender, and power, showcasing the novel’s relevance and emotional depth. Through Lauren’s vision for a better future, the essay underscores the potential for human strength and the importance of community and adaptability in overcoming adversity.

How it works

Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” offers an unsettling vision of a dystopian future, yet it pulses with a profound undercurrent of hope and resilience. Set in the 2020s, the novel immerses readers in a world devastated by climate change, social inequality, and economic collapse. Through the journey of Lauren Olamina, Butler explores survival, community, and the transformative power of belief in a way that feels both urgent and timeless.

Lauren, the central character, is a young African American woman with hyperempathy, a condition that compels her to feel the pain and pleasure of others as if they were her own.

This unique trait, while making her vulnerable, also deepens her compassion and commitment to creating a better world. As her neighborhood disintegrates under the pressures of violence and scarcity, Lauren conceives a new belief system called Earthseed. Earthseed posits that “God is Change,” emphasizing adaptability as a crucial aspect of human survival. This philosophy becomes her guiding light in a world that seems to be falling apart.

The novel’s portrayal of societal breakdown is both realistic and harrowing. Butler does not shy away from depicting the brutal realities of her imagined future, where law and order have crumbled, and the government is either ineffective or corrupt. The setting in a decaying Los Angeles neighborhood serves as a microcosm of broader societal decay, reflecting current fears about environmental collapse and economic disparity. Through Lauren’s journey, Butler examines how communities can fracture and coalesce in the face of adversity, highlighting the importance of resilience and adaptability.

In many ways, “Parable of the Sower” serves as a powerful commentary on contemporary issues. The environmental catastrophes and economic inequalities in the novel echo present-day concerns, making Butler’s work uncannily prescient. The story challenges readers to consider the long-term consequences of our collective actions and the necessity of fostering resilience and adaptability. It also underscores the significance of individual agency in driving social change. Lauren’s determination to survive and assist others, despite overwhelming odds, exemplifies the potential for human strength and ingenuity.

Butler’s exploration of faith and spirituality through Earthseed is another compelling aspect of the novel. Earthseed, with its emphasis on change and the shaping of destiny, offers an alternative to traditional religious doctrines. It encourages followers to take control of their lives and view change as an opportunity rather than a threat. This perspective is particularly relevant in today’s rapidly changing world, where adaptability and proactive thinking are essential. Earthseed’s mantra, “God is Change,” resonates deeply with the idea that humans must be active participants in shaping their future.

The emotional depth and clarity of Butler’s writing bring her characters and their struggles to life. She creates complex, relatable characters who face difficult choices and moral dilemmas. Lauren’s development from a cautious teenager to a determined leader is portrayed with nuance and sensitivity. Her relationship with her father, her interactions with other survivors, and her growing conviction in Earthseed are all depicted with a realism that draws readers into her world. Butler’s skillful character development makes Lauren’s journey compelling and relatable, even in a dystopian setting.

In “Parable of the Sower,” Butler also addresses issues of race, gender, and power with keen insight. The novel’s diverse cast of characters reflects the multicultural reality of America, and their struggles highlight the intersectionality of different forms of oppression. Lauren, as a black woman, faces unique challenges but also brings a valuable perspective to her role as a leader. Butler’s portrayal of strong, resourceful female characters is a powerful statement on the potential for women to drive social and cultural change. The novel underscores the importance of diversity and inclusion in building resilient communities.

Ultimately, “Parable of the Sower” is a story about hope and human resilience. Despite the grim circumstances, Lauren’s vision for a better future and her unwavering commitment to her beliefs provide a sense of optimism. Butler suggests that even in the darkest times, there is potential for growth and transformation. The novel encourages readers to consider their own roles in shaping the future and to find strength in community and adaptability. Lauren’s journey is a testament to the power of hope and the human spirit’s capacity for resilience.

Butler’s narrative invites readers to reflect on their own lives and the world around them. It prompts questions about how we respond to change, how we build and sustain communities, and how we can foster resilience in the face of adversity. “Parable of the Sower” is not just a cautionary tale; it is a call to action. It urges us to be proactive in addressing the challenges we face and to embrace change as a catalyst for personal and collective growth.

In conclusion, Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” is a profound and thought-provoking work that addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time. Its exploration of survival, faith, and change offers valuable insights into the human condition and the potential for transformation. Through Lauren Olamina’s journey, Butler inspires readers to embrace change, build resilient communities, and strive for a better world. The novel’s enduring relevance and emotional resonance make it a powerful piece of literature that continues to captivate and inspire.

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101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

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Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: this idea changed my life. Disclaimer: This audiobook contains explicit language.

• Brianna Wiest - Author
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• Release date: August 21, 2018
• Duration: 10:45:55

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Essays Philosophy Self-Improvement Nonfiction

Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc. Edition: Unabridged

OverDrive Listen audiobook ISBN: 9781977396860 File size: 310042 KB Release date: August 21, 2018 Duration: 10:45:55

MP3 audiobook ISBN: 9781977396860 File size: 310065 KB Release date: August 21, 2018 Duration: 10:49:53 Number of parts: 9

• Formats OverDrive Listen audiobook MP3 audiobook
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The Changing Political Geography of COVID-19 Over the Last Two Years

Over the past two years, the official count of coronavirus deaths in the United States has risen and is now approaching 1 million lives. Large majorities of Americans say they personally know someone who has been hospitalized or died of the coronavirus , and it has impacted – in varying degrees – nearly every aspect of life .

A new Pew Research Center analysis of official reports of COVID-19-related deaths across the country, based on mortality data collected by The New York Times, shows how the dynamics of the pandemic have shifted over the past two years.

A timeline of the shifting geography of the pandemic

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how the geography of the coronavirus outbreak has changed over its course. For this analysis, we relied on official reports of deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus collected and maintained by The New York Times .

The estimates provided in this report are subject to several sources of error. There may be significant differences between the true number of deaths due to COVID-19 and the official reported counts of those deaths. There may also be variation across the states in the quality and types of data reported. For example, most states report deaths based on the residency of the deceased person rather than the location where they died. The New York Times collects data from many different local health agencies, and this likely leads to some additional measurement error.

This analysis relies on county-level data. Counties in the United States vary widely in their population sizes, so in many places in the essay, we divide counties into approximately equal-sized groups (in terms of their population) for comparability or report on population adjusted death rates rather than total counts of deaths.

The pandemic has rolled across the U.S. unevenly and in waves. Today, the death toll of the pandemic looks very different from how it looked in the early part of 2020 . The first wave (roughly the first 125,000 deaths from March 2020 through June 2020) was largely geographically concentrated in the Northeast and in particular the New York City region. During the summer of 2020, the largest share of the roughly 80,000 deaths that occurred during the pandemic’s second wave were in the southern parts of the country.

The fall and winter months of 2020 and early 2021 were the deadliest of the pandemic to date. More than 370,000 Americans died of COVID-19 between October 2020 and April 2021; the geographic distinctions that characterized the earlier waves became much less pronounced.

By the spring and summer of 2021, the nationwide death rate had slowed significantly, and vaccines were widely available to all adults who wanted them. But starting at the end of the summer, the fourth and fifth waves (marked by new variants of the virus, delta and then omicron) came in quick succession and claimed more than 300,000 lives.

In many cases, the characteristics of communities that were associated with higher death rates at the beginning of the pandemic are now associated with lower death rates (and vice versa). Early in the pandemic, urban areas were disproportionately impacted. During the first wave, the coronavirus death rate in the 10% of the country that lives in the most densely populated counties was more than nine times that of the death rate among the 10% of the population living in the least densely populated counties. In each subsequent wave, however, the nation’s least dense counties have registered higher death rates than the most densely populated places.

Despite the staggering death toll in densely populated urban areas during the first months of the pandemic (an average 36 monthly deaths per 100,000 residents), the overall death rate over the course of the pandemic is slightly higher in the least populated parts of the country (an average monthly 15 deaths per 100,000 among the 10% living in the least densely populated counties vs. 13 per 100,000 among the 10% in the most densely populated counties).

As the relationship between population density and coronavirus death rates has changed over the course of the pandemic, so too has the relationship between counties’ voting patterns and their death rates from COVID-19.

In the spring of 2020, the areas recording the greatest numbers of deaths were much more likely to vote Democratic than Republican. But by the third wave of the pandemic, which began in fall 2020, the pattern had reversed: Counties that voted for Donald Trump over Joe Biden were suffering substantially more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic than those that voted for Biden over Trump. This reversal is likely a result of several factors including differences in mitigation efforts and vaccine uptake, demographic differences, and other differences that are correlated with partisanship at the county level.

During this third wave – which continued into early 2021 – the coronavirus death rate among the 20% of Americans living in counties that supported Trump by the highest margins in 2020 was about 170% of the death rate among the one-in-five Americans living in counties that supported Biden by the largest margins.

As vaccines became more widely available, this discrepancy between “blue” and “red” counties became even larger as the virulent delta strain of the pandemic spread across the country during the summer and fall of 2021, even as the total number of deaths fell somewhat from its third wave peak.

During the fourth wave of the pandemic, death rates in the most pro-Trump counties were about four times what they were in the most pro-Biden counties. When the highly transmissible omicron variant began to spread in the U.S. in late 2021, these differences narrowed substantially. However, death rates in the most pro-Trump counties were still about 180% of what they were in the most pro-Biden counties throughout late 2021 and early 2022.

The cumulative impact of these divergent death rates is a wide difference in total deaths from COVID-19 between the most pro-Trump and most pro-Biden parts of the country. Since the pandemic began, counties representing the 20% of the population where Trump ran up his highest margins in 2020 have experienced nearly 70,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than have the counties representing the 20% of population where Biden performed best. Overall, the COVID-19 death rate in all c ounties Trump won in 2020 is substantially higher than it is in counties Biden won (as of the end of February 2022, 326 per 100,000 in Trump counties and 258 per 100,000 in Biden counties).

Partisan divide in COVID-19 deaths widened as more vaccines became available

Partisan differences in COVID-19 death rates expanded dramatically after the availability of vaccines increased. Unvaccinated people are at far higher risk of death and hospitalization from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccination decisions are strongly associated with partisanship . Among the large majority of counties for which reliable vaccination data exists, counties that supported Trump at higher margins have substantially lower vaccination rates than those that supported Biden at higher margins.

Counties with lower rates of vaccination registered substantially greater death rates during each wave in which vaccines were widely available.

During the fall of 2021 (roughly corresponding to the delta wave), about 10% of Americans lived in counties with adult vaccination rates lower than 40% as of July 2021. Death rates in these low-vaccination counties were about six times as high as death rates in counties where 70% or more of the adult population was vaccinated.

More Americans were vaccinated heading into the winter of 2021 and 2022 (roughly corresponding to the omicron wave), but nearly 10% of the country lived in areas where less than half of the adult population was vaccinated as of November 2021. Death rates in these low-vaccination counties were roughly twice what they were in counties that had 80% or more of their population vaccinated. ( Note: The statistics here reflect the death rates in the county as a whole, not rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, though individual-level data finds that death rates among unvaccinated people are far higher than among vaccinated people.)

This analysis relies on official reports of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the United States collected and reported by The New York Times .

COVID-19 deaths in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not included in this analysis. Additionally, deaths without a specific geographic location have been excluded.

Data was pulled from the GitHub repository maintained by The New York Times on March 1, 2022, and reflects reported coronavirus deaths through Feb. 28.

There are several anomalies in the deaths data. Many locales drop off their reporting on the weekends and holidays. In addition to the rhythm of the reporting cycle, there are many instances where a locality will revise the count of its deaths downward (usually only by a small amount) or release a large batch of previously unreported deaths on a single day. The downward revisions were identified and retroactively applied to earlier days.

Large batches of cases were identified by finding days that increased by more than 10 deaths and were 10 standard deviations above the norm for a county within a 30-day window. Deaths reported in these anomalous batches were then evenly distributed across the days leading up to when they were released.

Population data for U.S. counties comes from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey estimates published by the Census Bureau (accessed through the tidycensus package in R on Feb. 21). The 2020 vote share for each county was purchased from Dave Leip’s Election Atlas (downloaded on Nov. 21, 2021).

The analysis looks at deaths among counties based on their 2020 vote. Counties were grouped into five groups with approximately equal population. For analyses that include 2020 vote, Alaskan counties are excluded because Alaska does not report its election results at the county level. The table below provides more details.

This essay benefited greatly from thoughtful comments and consultation with many individuals around Pew Research Center. Jocelyn Kiley, Carroll Doherty and Jeb Bell provided invaluable editorial guidance. Peter Bell and Alissa Scheller contributed their expertise in visualization, Ben Wormald built the map animation, and Reem Nadeem did the digital production. Andrew Daniller provided careful attention to the quality check process, and David Kent’s watchful copy editing eye brought clarity to some difficult concepts.

Lead photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

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• DOI: 10.1177/1354067X231185719
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Exploring the Understanding of Globalization: A Qualitative Study of the Urban, Educated, Middle-Class, Young Indians

• Bhumika Kapoor , Vanita Sondhi
• Published in Culture & Psychology 21 June 2023
• Psychology, Sociology
• Culture & Psychology

61 References

Toward a social psychology of globalization, consuming globalization: youth and gender in kerala, india, lay psychology of globalization and its social impact., negotiating globalization: men and women of india's call centers, “grab your culture and walk with the global”, a peripherist view of english as a language of decolonization in post-colonial india, cultural changes and challenges in the era of globalization, globalization of culture: impact on indian psyche, toward a "global-community psychology": meeting the needs of a changing world., rapid social change and the turmoil of adolescence: a cross-cultural perspective, related papers.

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101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

Description.

Over the past few years, Brianna Wiest has gained renown for her deeply moving, philosophical writing. This new compilation of her published work features pieces on why you should pursue purpose over passion, embrace negative thinking, see the wisdom in daily routine, and become aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. Some of these pieces have never been seen; others have been read by millions of people around the world. Regardless, each will leave you thinking: this idea changed my life. Disclaimer: This audiobook contains explicit language.

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Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc. Edition: Unabridged

OverDrive Listen audiobook ISBN: 9781977396860 File size: 310042 KB Release date: August 21, 2018 Duration: 10:45:55

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How Lab-Grown Diamonds Upended the Industry and Could End Up Changing the World

Matthew hart on mayhem in the diamond industry..

The diamond world was stunned when De Beers, the storied diamond miner, announced this month it was ditching its lab-grown diamond business. De Beers had been selling lab-grown gems online through its Lightbox brand for six years, at prices its competitors found hard to beat. But the lab-grown diamond price was crashing, and De Beers will now focus its $94 million Oregon diamond factory away from gemstone production and onto something much more exciting: diamonds for targeted industrial uses. 

Among these new and often secret uses is the place of diamonds in the race to develop a quantum computer—the mind-boggling doomsday machine that China and the United States are desperate to get to first. De Beers diamond-technology experts have put the company in the forefront of this race, with their ability to manipulate tiny diamonds at the atomic level. Characteristics such as “vacancies”—missing atoms—allow such stones to perform a crucial function for quantum machines, which will complete in minutes calculations that today’s fastest supercomputers would take years to finish. The plot for my new novel, The Lucifer Cut , revolves around these developments. But first—how did diamonds get where they are now?

I started writing about diamonds in 1991, when a discovery in the Canadian Arctic sparked a winter staking rush. Loaded with posts, planes flew out into the frigid wastes. At isolated tent camps, diamond geologists and staking crews shifted the posts into helicopters and clattered off to distant coordinates, often just flinging the posts out into the snow when they got there and inking another claim onto the staking map. Tens of millions of dollars in speculators’ money poured into that rush, all of it riding the same belief—that diamonds were valuable and hard to find. In other words, rare. 

Rarity is the basement attribute that supports the diamond industry. Without that concept, the whole idea of a jewel is under threat. That threat became real when a virus invaded the sparkling domain of diamonds, destroying the very idea of rarity. The virus was lab-grown diamonds. 

Diamonds depend for value on distinctions of rarity. D color costs more than F because there aren’t as many Ds; a two-carat stone is rarer than a one, so you pay more per carat. Absurdly, lab-grown diamonds shadow this pricing system, even though the supply of lab-grown, in any practical sense, is infinite. There is no such thing as rarity. Diamond growers can make as many stones as they like, and even advance a stone from one category to another basically by leaving it in the oven a little longer. By that I mean that industrial processes involving heat and pressure, not the casino of natural formation, determine what a stone will look like. 

The only value of a lab-grown diamond is that it looks like something it is not. How do you even sell such a stone? In an industry whose mother ship is the idea of eternal love, you don’t want the whole retail pitch to just be that it’s cheaper than the real thing. So the makers of lab-grown found another story: namely, that that the stones are more ethical and greener than natural diamonds.

It was a ridiculous claim. The Federal Trade Commission ordered lab-grown manufacturers to drop it five years ago. Yet somehow the belief that lab-grown have a moral edge has stuck. The truth is that most lab-grown diamonds come from factories in China and India that rely on huge amounts of electric power. That power comes from coal-fired generating plants. So much for the eco edge. 

The other idea, that lab-grown are more ethical, is laughable. It’s a hangover from the blood-diamonds scandal, which exposed the trade in conflict diamonds. But anybody who thinks a diamond made in a Chinese or Indian factory is more ethically sourced than a mined one hasn’t been following the relentless campaigns of persecution against ethnic and religious minorities by governments in New Delhi and Beijing.

Buyers flocked to lab-grown anyway, pushing the category’s share of the global diamond market last year to more than twenty percent. Since the supply is essentially limitless, manufacturers responded to the boom by producing even more. Choked by oversupply, the wholesale price collapsed, and as sure as night follows day, the retail price began to follow it. Since the price of natural rough diamonds had also taken a haircut, this meant the whole industry—natural and lab-grown—was caught up in a price retreat that looked like a rout. Into this dangerous moment stepped the only force in diamonds that could stop it—De Beers. 

De Beers invented the modern diamond business. For decades they ran it like a private fief. They are still a powerful force—the pre-eminent natural diamond company and a successful lab-grown maker too. This made De Beers the only power that could calm the seething waters of the lab-grown diamond price, and in May they tried. They slashed the price of their standard range of lab-grown goods from $800 a carat to $500. How did that work out? Not great, I guess, since a month later they threw in the towel and got of lab-grown altogether. 

When lab-grown diamonds appeared, I thought they would turn out to be the virus that ate itself—a  commodity whose basic worthlessness would ultimately push down prices until the enterprise went bust. I didn’t see the other threat, the more insidious one, which was how good they would get. It was that penny finally dropping—that fakes might actually get good enough to beat the tests designed to catch them—that convinced me to set my new thriller, The Lucifer Cut , in that world. 

Here’s an example. One recent fake—a six-carat white—appeared in Tel Aviv. The fakers had found a natural diamond just like it on an online data base. Their fake even had flaws positioned where the natural stone’s flaws were. The online stone was identified, as any large diamond would be, by a certificate whose number was lasered on the stone. No problem. The fakers lasered the number on theirs. This fake was caught when a trader brought it to a lab, which detected minute differences between the natural and the fake, and ran some tests. But in an intensely secretive art whose sorcerers can reposition atoms, one day the tests will fail to catch it. From that moment the diamond business is finished. The Lucifer Cut dives into this dark realm as Treasury agent Alex Turner and his lover, the millionaire Russian diamond thief known as Slav Lily, pursue an elusive genius who can make any diamond—including one that could give its owner the power to rule the world. In The Lucifer Cut , nothing is stranger than fiction!

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Exploring Intersectionality in Systems of Oppression

The concept of intersectionality is critical in understanding the multifaceted nature of oppression. This paper summarizes the main ideas and arguments from the course materials on women’s and gender studies. Primarily, it focuses on the concept of intersectionality, which examines how different forms of oppression and discrimination intersect and affect women of color. Following this summary, I will also reflect on how these issues are relevant to my personal life and experiences. Intersectionality is a crucial framework for understanding and addressing the multiple and interlocking forms of oppression and violence that women of color and those from indigenous communities face in their daily lives.

Crenshaw’s work, published in the Stanford Law Review (1991), examines the intersecting forms of oppression faced by women of color. She argues that traditional feminist and antiracist discourses have failed to capture the unique experiences of these women, who endure simultaneous racial and gender-based discrimination (Crenshaw, 1991). Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality highlights how these overlapping identities create a unique dimension of oppression not entirely addressed by existing social justice frameworks. This aspect stresses the necessity for more nuanced approaches in social justice efforts that account for the complex interplay of multiple identity factors.

In the podcast episode by Anna Maria Tremonti, various perspectives were explored on the significance of featuring women in the US and Canada’s currency. The episode highlighted the decision to place Harriet Tubman on the US $20 bill, emphasizing its symbolic value in honoring her role as an abolitionist and challenging historical narratives (Tremonti, 2016). However, the discussion also acknowledged criticisms, particularly about the potential of such symbolism to obscure ongoing systemic issues marginalized groups face (Tremonti, 2016). This debate extends to the Canadian context, where the choice of which woman to feature on currency sparked discussions on historical representation and the complexities of intersectional identities. These conversations resonate with Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectional framework by illustrating how symbolic gestures, such as representation on currency, intersect with deeper societal issues of race, gender, and economic disparity.

The class discussion further contextualized these ideas through contemporary examples, such as the 2015 initiative in Canada to remove the tax on feminine products. This action acknowledges the financial burden disproportionately placed on women, aligning with Crenshaw’s intersectional analysis by highlighting how economic policies can differentially impact marginalized groups. The discussion on the ‘pink tax’ and unfair pricing practices, such as those seen in products marketed to women being 50% more expensive on average, highlights how gender-based economic disparities persist. Moreover, the class discussion touched upon the efforts in California to combat the pink tax, exemplifying active resistance against gendered economic injustice (Class Notes, 2024). This perspective aligns with Crenshaw’s advocacy for intersectional awareness in policymaking and societal attitudes. The inclusion of women in currency, as discussed in Tremonti’s podcast, further exemplifies these points, highlighting the symbolic and practical implications of representation in challenging entrenched gender biases. The discussion also noted ongoing research in Canada regarding the pink tax, indicating a growing acknowledgment of these systemic issues.Top of Form

Reflecting on the materials, I recognize the profound impact intersectionality has in unraveling the complexity of oppression. Chiefly, Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality framework shows the intricacies of race, gender, and economic status, profoundly enriching our perspective on social justice. The insights from the podcast and class discussions serve as tangible examples of how theoretical concepts manifest in real-world scenarios. For instance, the discussion about the ‘pink tax’ reminds me of multiple times I have bought products on Amazon and could not understand why those targeted at women are, in most cases, priced higher than those of men. While some researchers, such as Moshary et al. (2023), show that there are times when women’s products tend to be significantly cheaper than male versions, this perspective demonstrates that organizations still incorporate activities that subtly reinforce gender inequality in our society. Thus, I would argue that symbolic actions, such as the inclusion of women in currency, can carry significant weight in challenging deep-seated societal biases and structures.

On a personal level, these discussions have been transformative in reshaping my understanding of social dynamics. Recognizing the multi-layered nature of oppression compels me to empathize with and appreciate the varied experiences of those around me, particularly individuals grappling with intersecting forms of discrimination. This newfound awareness has spurred a more critical and introspective stance toward societal structures and policies. Chiefly, it prompts me to continuously question the beneficiaries of these systems and consider the hidden costs borne by marginalized communities. Moreover, this learning journey has instilled in me a sense of responsibility to actively engage in discussions and actions that advocate for a more equitable and inclusive society.

The exploration of intersectionality through Crenshaw’s work, alongside the practical insights from the podcast and class discussions, provides a comprehensive understanding of the nuanced nature of oppression. Notably, it emphasizes the importance of considering multiple and intersecting identities in addressing social injustices. These discussions have broadened the academic discourse and offered profound personal insights into the realities of marginalized communities. Based on these perspectives, I feel that we must continue with this conversation as we strive for a more equitable society, regardless of how uncomfortable it might be. Primarily, we must recognize that the path to social justice is intertwined with the need to understand and address the complexities of intersectionality.

Class Notes (2024).

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color.  Stanford Law Review ,  43 (6), 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039

Moshary, S., Tuchman, A., & Vajravelu, N. (2023). Gender-based pricing in consumer packaged goods: A pink tax?  Marketing Science . https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.1452

Tremonti, A. M. (2016, April 25). Why having women on currency makes sense.  The Current  [Audio podcast episode]. CBC Radio. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-25-2016-1.3551316/why-having-women-on-currency-makes-sense-1.3551329

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Essay Sample: The Change I Can Make In the World

Change is essential because it adds benefits to people's lives ranging from social, political, and economic aspects. Changing the world requires a clear understanding of the issue that affects people and hinders them from accomplishing their goals or objectives (Chen, Li, & Yu, 2015). In this scenario, I would bring a social change of global warming in which every individual has done little to eradicate the problem, wherein in some cases, they fail to acknowledge whether the issue exists. According to a scientist, global warming is portrayed as a severe threat due to industry fossil fuels and an increase in agriculture and population (Delworth et al. , 2015). I believe that bringing social change to global warming will result to remarkable progress in the world. So, being the student at Exeter University in England, I would collaborate with "Insert global warming company" to bring change in Devon County. Therefore, my project indicates the move I can make in the universe, my resources, challenges, and impacts.

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The Change I Want to Make

Global warming is the increase in temperature slowly in the world's atmosphere due to raising in heat (energy) striking the universe from the sun (Schneider et al., 2004). The atmosphere in the world has been acting as a greenhouse to avoid coldness. According to Ciplet, Roberts, and Khan (2015), an increase in fossil fuels like diesel, gasoline, natural gas, and kerosene and also petrochemicals like plastics, fertilizer results in to release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which has negative impacts on the environment. Due to this, I would volunteer with Insert global warming organization, the most company in England that is managing the sorts of global warming through collaboration with various industries, and communities. This organization will help me in implementing the social change of global warming in England, particularly Devon region, the neighborhood to Exeter University. The England cities have been reporting the issues of climate change like powerful storms and rising sea levels leading to environmental ills such as water contamination, flooding, or air pollution (Freije, Hussain, & Salman, 2017). Hence, various global management companies are emerging to address problems associated with social equity and justice and climate changes.

How I want to do the Change

In combating the global warming impacts in the Devon region, I will volunteer with Insert global warming company to educate different organizations on how to analyze and measure Green House gas emissions. Every organization that desires to minimize the adverse effect on the environment and planet, as well as climate change, will measure GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) (Halpern, 2015). There are various private industries where the carbon footprint is certified and may assist organizations in regulating carbon dioxide emissions (Burge et al., 2016). By knowing GHG emissions, there should be analyzed to see which industry is most polluted to provide solutions towards reducing the issue (Hermoso et al., 2016). Also, I would train the organizations on how to reduce energy consumption. For instance, I would educate them on the importance of turning lights off in the evening in every office as it lowers the air conditioning, and heating resulting to energy consumption reduction and effect on climate.

Besides, I will advocate the fight for obsolescence and reduction of waste. Avoiding the disposal of stirrers, capsules, and cups for the coffee machine and offering kitchen crockery would minimize prints, leading to the reuse of papers as drafts, as well as recycling waste (Jang & Hart, 2015). Every organization needs to incorporate devices and equipment rather than using indisposable materials. Also, optimizing workings transportation would lower greenhouse gas emissions by motivating employees to carpool with others who reside jointly or offering a discount to use public transport can reduce carbon dioxide indirectly and avoiding climate change (Kotter, 2012). Accordingly, in fighting an adverse impact on global warming, the company needs to select sustainable suppliers who indicate conducive environmental practices (Laffoley & Baxter, 2016).

Additionally, I will volunteer with insert global warming company in mobilizing for climate change through encouraging public actors and politicians to reiterate on the impacts of global warming to the people. I believe these prominent people have a significant influence on mobilizing towards environment regulations that can have a considerable effect on global warming (Lehmann, Coumou, & Frieler, 2015). They can raise awareness to the media, consumers, employees, and various stakeholders on the importance of organizing hackathons, in house context, or campaigns towards fighting the environmental problems with results to GHG emissions (Zhong, 2016). For example, burning polythene paper materials and educating the importance of emulating disposable materials. Also, politicians can introduce technological devices that can help in reducing environmental pollution (Lewin, 2016). For instance, instead of traveling to meet others, one can incorporate video conferences or the internet. Finally, I would volunteer with insert global warming companies in assessing the progress towards environmental pollution reductions (Perlwitz, Hoerling, & Dole, 2015). For instance, I would involve third party consultancy to maintain accountability among businesses. However, irrespective of this initiative of eradicating adverse impacts on global warming, recent evidence has shown that almost 40 percent of companies do not support the idea of environmental regulations (Perrewe & Zellars, 1999). According to Liu and Perrewe (2005). Changing the world requires patient and persistence as the majority are ignorant of change.

In reiterating change, I propose various practices and theories of social change. First, my project relies on the theory of justice, which derives the idea from Piaget, the stages of cognitive development, which implies moral reasoning (Rhodes, 2016). The approach concerns with social acceptance and professional norms that are based on ethical principles (Willard, 2016). The development stages reflect the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, which are not dependent on external sanctions and rewards but held internally on moral principles (Sanford, 2017). The model is used to explain the moral development of leaders since the majority uses conventional reasoning. Basing on this theory of justice, volunteering with insert global warming companies will allow me to influence managers of every organization to have logical thinking on the positive impact of global warming (Magsaysay & Hechanova, 2017). By doing so, the managers will embrace modern methods of eradicating emission of fossil fuels in the surrounding like avoiding burning waste materials and began recycling. Another theory that will inform my project is the cognitive appraisal, which specifies the pathway by which the system variables operate and have an impact on each other (Scharnagl, Scharnagl, & von Wettberg, 2017). This approach assumes that secondary and primary appraisal act as a mediator towards emotional reactions (Weiss, 2018). Coping actions and thoughts depend mainly on secondary appraisals, such as anything that can affect the environment. I believe a change needs adaptation decisions and actions to be employed in dealing and managing the environment (Bolden et al., 2008). Boyatzis and McKee (2005) suggested that cognitive theory assists individuals and organizations in coping with changes regarding the social transformation of global warming in Devonshire County. Lastly, I will use a transactional approach, which offers an interpretation concerning the company's processes of development and change (Steffens et al., 2014). This approach indicates that a conducive environment will require individual disciplinary actions. The theory is vital when highlighting the impacts of the people towards the environment (Toom, & Husu, 2018). For example, the work of the people like cutting down trees, dumping waste into the water bodies, and excessive use of fertilizer (Maibach, 2015). Therefore, I believe these theories of social change will allow me to attain a maximum change in connection to global warming.

The resources

My external resources are, insert global warming company near Exeter University in England, where I want to initiate the social change of global warming. The Devonshire has been experiencing the issue of climate change as a result of industrial pollutants. Many companies are releasing greenhouse gas emissions, which affects the surrounding environment resulting to adverse impacts on global warming (Turner, 2016). Volunteering with Insert global warming organization will help me in addressing the change significantly through working collaboratively, unlike individually (McMichael, 2016). Team working offers encouragement and motivation towards attaining the objectives or goals. Besides, I can contact my colleagues as well as the Television program, students' newspapers or articles at Exeter University to assist me in bringing a social change of global warming in Devonshire. Since we have been working for many years as a group, I believe the team will provide me with moral and financial support towards attaining the change.

I will need various internal resources like time, monetary funding, and my personality. Time is very crucial when it comes to the enhancement of change (Migdal, 2015). Change requires total dedication and commitment. So I should allocate more days in providing training and education to the various organization to embrace measures that reduce global warming adverse impacts (O'Toole, 1995). Also, visiting households in the whole of Devon County will require time allocation because every person will need awareness of environmental control and regulations. So, time is an essential resource that will be necessary to promote change. Also, no change can be adequate with monetary funding since it ranges from travel expenses. I will need money to enhance change more effectively (Van Tulder, Verbeke, & Jankowska, 2019). Offering training and education to various community organizations, different business corporations and individuals will require transportation expenses to reach such clients (Baer & Singer, 2016). The money will also be required to finance the campaigns through media like televisions, radio, magazines, and newspapers as well as campaigns. Finally, my personality is also consistent with my internal resources since it shapes my identity that why I have a great attitude towards changing the world, particularly Devon County, in England. My personality helps in managing resistance, has an appetite for learning more, and influence authority. Hence, my self-awareness assists me to have correct attitudes and feelings about things because I value my society, nation as well as the entire world.

Since every person has weaknesses and strengths, my PDP (personal development portfolio) offered me an opportunity to improve internal communication through contemplating and minding things. My PDP has allowed me to become aware of my weaknesses and strength, thus aiding in developing a beneficial change. The internal resources enable me to become a participatory leader, unlike authoritarian, since I involve everyone in decision making because I understand that is change is teamwork (Pelletier, 2017). Thus, I have great qualities like creativity, intelligence, courage, self-confidence, as well as curiosity and patience, which is well considered as my internal resources.

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• Simplified Chinese (China)

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• English (US)

Could you help me revise the essay? Thank you! Topic: Because the world is changing so quickly, people now are less happy or less satisfied with their lives than people were in the past With the advent of the considerable innovations and technology, the world is changing at an unprecedented speed. Some people believe that our lives are becoming more meaningful and enjoyable. However, I strongly believe that people now are less happy and satisfying than people in the past. Firstly, people now are experiencing interpersonal alienation. With the development of communication technology, people in fact become alienated with friends and relatives. Nowadays it is more and more common for people to talk with their friends and relatives by using phone. Consequently, there are less and less time for friends or relatives to get together and have face-to-face communication. Sometimes, even when friends can have a chance to get together, they are not likely to talk to each other as they all are busy on playing their phones. That makes people think the traditional of mutual affections are not available any more. But several decades ago, people treasured their friends and maintained relatively close interpersonal relations, which are much more enjoyable than the estrangements we are suffering. Secondly, the rapid changes of the world make people feel stressful. Although changes bring convenience, people usually struggle with catching up with the changing pace. With the improvement of all kinds of technology, a large number machines might replace people from their jobs. So people now are always worrying about losing jobs. In order to avoid unemployment crisis, they must work extremely hard and use their spare time to learn new skills. For instance, the businessmen have to learn foreign languages ,since the globalization has been a unavoidable trend in business world. The teachers have to learn how to use digital equipments, like computers and projects, which are essential tools used in today's classrooms. Lastly, people would be easily become disoriented in today's information-explosion world. There are huge amount of information accessible to people with modern technology. Necessary information is good, but too much information is bad. For example, once I tried to search some wonderful books for my children online, then all kinds of book lists showing up. I was totally overwhelmed and confused about which book I should have. Also, it takes long time for people to find valuable information in the information-explosion world. Imagine you are planing a trip, you have to spend a lot time on booking hotels and planing routes because you need to make compares among a large number of hotels and scenic places. In conclusion, people in the today's world can have advanced technological devices, easily accessible information, however, which make people feel lonely, stressful and disoriented. That's why people now have less happiness and satisfaction.

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The first paragraph, Because the world is changing so quickly, people now are less happiness or less satisfied with their lives than people were in the past. With the advent of the considerable innovations and technology, I cannot believe the world is changing too fast.

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Wow, very good. A quick note: Change ‘satisfying’ in the 2nd paragraph to ‘satisfied’.

@telor_ceplok yeah great i think so..

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9 Questions to Help You Figure Out Why You’re Burned Out

• Rebecca Zucker

It’s likely a combination of factors.

The World Health Organization characterizes burnout as comprising three key dimensions: sustained feelings of exhaustion, feelings of personal inefficacy, and increased mental distance from one’s job. In this article, the author outlines nine questions to ask yourself under each of these three categories to help you diagnose what’s causing your burnout. It’s likely a combination of factors, requiring a number of changes over time to fully address it, and not something a one-off vacation can reverse right away. Nonetheless, the answers to these questions serve as a starting point and can inform steps you can take to address your burnout and possibly prevent it from happening again in the future.

It’s no secret that managers and employees have been suffering from burnout for quite some time.

• Rebecca Zucker is an executive coach and a founding partner at Next Step Partners , a leadership development firm. Her clients have included Amazon, Clorox, Morrison Foerster, Norwest Venture Partners, The James Irvine Foundation, and high-growth technology companies like DocuSign and Dropbox. You can follow her on LinkedIn .

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