Albert Einstein Thoughtes

Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavours. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations. If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. It should be possible to explain the laws of physics to a barmaid. It stands to the everlasting credit of science that by acting on the human mind it has overcome man's insecurity before himself and before nature. Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone. Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character. When the solution is simple, God is answering. The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking. The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks. Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it. The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal. The grand aim of all science is to cover the greatest number of empirical facts by logical deduction from the smallest number of hypotheses or axioms. All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.

I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference! I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right. A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be. Information is not knowledge. It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow - perhaps it all will. Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be. Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events. Never lose a holy curiosity. No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. On the other hand, the concept owes its meaning and its justification exclusively to the totality of the sense impressions which we associate with it. Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them. 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 any talent for abstract, positive thinking. You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created. The only source of knowledge is experience. The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. The important thing is not to stop questioning. The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. The only real valuable thing is intuition.

There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there. 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. 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. The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. To the Master's honor all must turn, each in its track, without a sound, forever tracing Newton's ground. The faster you go, the shorter you are. The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. 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. Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. Love is a better teacher than duty. Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. 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. Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people. If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same. Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same. Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods. Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish. Do you believe in immortality? No, and one life is enough for me. God always takes the simplest way. I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically. God does not play dice. God may be subtle, but he isn't malicious. I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty. I want to know God's thoughts... the rest are details. It was the experience of mystery - even if mixed with fear - that engendered religion. Morality is of the highest importance - but for us, not for God. My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. One strength of the communist system of the East is that it has some of the character of a religion and inspires the emotions of a religion. When the solution is simple, God is answering. Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods.

That deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness. Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree