When it comes to prominent names of men and women of science from the 20th century, there is arguably no moniker more ubiquitous than Albert Einstein. Born in Germany in 1879, Einstein spent his life truly making a mark in the scientific community—including developing the general theory of relativity and winning the Nobel Prize for physics (in 1921)—before passing away in 1955. Einstein’s research (as well as his signature hairstyle!) has sparked plenty of conversations throughout the years. While his remarkable scientific and mathematical contributions to the world are well-known and part of classroom curriculum, the creative (and oftentimes humorous) way he spoke about life and the substantial advice he gave to others has also been a significant part of his legacy. Get a better look at the man behind the impressive theories and the equation E = mc2. Here are 50 Albert Einstein quotes!
50 Albert Einstein Quotes
- “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
- “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.”
- “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
- “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
- “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
- “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
- “Never memorize something that you can look up.”
- “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
- “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
- “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
- “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
- “It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.”
- “A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”
- “Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
- “Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”
- “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
- “We all know that light travels faster than sound. That’s why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak.”
- “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”
- “I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.”
- “Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.”
- “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
- “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason 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.”
- “Love is a better master than duty.”
- “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”
- “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
- “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.”
- “It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.”
- “The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.”
- “Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”
- “You never fail until you stop trying.”
- “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.”
- “A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.”
- “If I were 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.”
- “Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work…”
- “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
- “Black holes are where God divided by zero.”
- “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
- “If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”
- “Time is an illusion.”
- “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
- “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
- “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
- “When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again.”
- “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
- “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
- “The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer somebody else up.”
- “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
- “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”
- “When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.”
- “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” Check out:- 150 life quotes- 129 inspirational quotes
