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The Most Inspiring Albert Einstein Quotes of All Time
Leaders

The Most Inspiring Albert Einstein Quotes of All Time

Albert Einstein is the most influential physicist of the 20th century, and may very well be the most famous scientist who ever lived. He was only 26 years old when, in 1905, he published four papers, electrifying the field of physics and propelling him to global renown. However, his contributions reached beyond science and mathematics. He is also remembered for his wit and his insights into humanity, knowledge and imagination, immortalized in endlessly inspiring Albert Einstein quotes.Among Einstein's famous works was his groundbreaking special theory of relativity, represented by the equation E = mc², which asserted that matter could be turned into energy. Not since mathematician Isaac Newton had one man so drastically altered our understanding of how the universe works.Photo by Harris & Ewing, courtesy of the Library of CongressYet, while Einstein clearly had a knack for science and mathematics from an early age, he didn't excel at everything he put his mind to. He attended elementary and grammar schools in Munich, Germany, where he felt alienated and stifled by the school's rigid pedagogical approach. He was an average pupil who experienced speech challenges, which permanently influenced his view of education and human potential.In fact, it was largely in his private time that Einstein's passion and inquisitiveness for science and mathematics first flourished. And after finishing his studies in Zurich in 1900, it was again in his leisure time, while working at the Swiss Patent Office, that he developed many of his most influential theories.Nobel Prize Winner, Great Thinker & Civil Rights Activist Einstein won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921, but history soon intervened. The Nazis were on the rise in his native Germany, and the Jewish Einstein was targeted for assassination. He moved in 1933 to the United States, where he worked at Princeton University for the rest of his days. There, he became a central figure in the fight to curtail the use of the atom bomb, and a strong voice against racism and nationalism.In fact, Einstein used his fame to advocate for social justice. The Harvard Gazette notes the physicist's little-known speech at Lincoln University -- the first degree-granting historically Black college -- in which Einstein called racism "a disease of white people." "I do not intend to be quiet about it," he said.[Hungry for more Albert Einstein-isms? Shop "The Ultimate Quotable Einstein"]Einstein's name has become synonymous with genius and creativity. Time magazine named him in 1999 as Person of the Century. "Even now scientists marvel at the daring of general relativity ('I still can't see how he thought of it,' said the late Richard Feynman, no slouch himself)," the magazine wrote. "But the great physicist was also engagingly simple, trading ties and socks for mothy sweaters and sweatshirts. He tossed off pithy aphorisms ('Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it') and playful doggerel as easily as equations."Indeed, Einstein is a rare icon, whose wisdom extended beyond science to reveal a man with an almost childlike sense of wonder and a profound love of humanity.Albert Einstein Quotes About Imagination & CuriosityPhoto by Orren Jack Turner, courtesy of the Library of CongressImagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am.The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. 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 every day.Photo by Andrew George on UnsplashThe most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead and his eyes are dimmed.I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.Albert Einstein Knowledge & Learning QuotesPhoto by Bakhrom Tursunov on UnsplashGreat spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.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.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.Albert Einstein with his second wife, Elsa, courtesy of the Library of CongressLet us not forget that human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life.Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.Albert Einstein Quotes About Humanity & LifeEinstein receives his certificate of U.S. citizenship (New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress)I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.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.Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.The great moral teachers of humanity were, in a way, artistic geniuses in the art of living.Photo by My Foto Canva on UnsplashReality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent oneI believe in standardizing automobiles. I do not believe in standardizing human beings.A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?A human being is part of a 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.”A question that sometimes drives me hazy -- am I or are the others crazy?Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.Photo by Jorge Alejandro on UnsplashI love to travel, but I hate to arrive.All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.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 has preserved me from feeling isolated.The years of anxious searching in the dark, with their intense longing, their alternations of confidence and exhaustion, and final emergence into light — only those who have experienced it can understand that.A happy man is too satisfied with the present to dwell too much on the future.I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death.Einstein Quotes About Science & MathematicsPhoto from Bain News Service, courtesy of the Library of CongressConcern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.Invention is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure.Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.Photo by Schloss, courtesy of the Library of CongressDo not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.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.Science can flourish only in an atmosphere of free speech.Mathematics are well and good, but nature keeps dragging us around by the nose.Photo by Maks Key on UnsplashIf 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.The truth of a theory can never be proven, for one never knows if future experience will contradict its conclusions.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...All of science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking.As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.Albert Einstein Quotes About War & PeacePhoto by Doris Ulmann, courtesy of the Library of CongressHail to the man who went through life always helping others, knowing no fear, and to whom aggressiveness and resentment are alien.The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it.I would teach peace rather than war. I would inculcate love rather than hate.I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.He who cherishes the value of cultures cannot fail to be a pacifist.I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.OFTEN ATTRIBUTED TO EINSTEIN, BUT NEVER CONFIRMEDPhoto by Taton Moïse on UnsplashOlder men start wars, but younger men fight them.Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.Force always attracts men of low morality.The pioneers of a warless world are the young men (and women) who refuse military service.Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted in important affairs.What Einstein Had to Say About FailurePhoto by Harris & Ewing, courtesy of the Library of CongressShow me a satisfied man, and I'll show you a failure.A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.I do not believe that a moral philosophy can ever be founded on a scientific basis. … The valuation of life and all its nobler expressions can only come out of the soul’s yearning toward its own destiny. Every attempt to reduce ethics to scientific formulas must fail. Of that I am perfectly convinced.You never fail until you stop trying.Failing isn't bad when you learn what not to do.The stakes are immense, the task colossal, the time is short. But we may hope - we must hope - that man's own creation, man's own genius, will not destroy him.Failure is success in progress.I have tried 99 times and have failed, but on the 100th time came success.Albert Einstein Ambition QuotesEinstein statue at the National Research Council. Photo by Carol Highsmith, courtesy of the Library of Congress.Try not to become a man of success, but a man of value. Look around at how people want to get more out of life than they put in. A man of value will give more than he receives. Be creative, but make sure that what you create is not a curse for mankind.Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things.Well-being and happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim. I am even inclined to compare such moral aims to the ambitions of a pig.Ever since childhood I have scorned the commonplace limits so often set upon human ambition. 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.I feel that you are justified in looking into the future with true assurance, because you have a mode of living in which we find the joy of life and the joy of work harmoniously combined. Added to this is the spirit of ambition which pervades your very being, and seems to make the day's work like a happy child at play.

5 Awe-Inspiring Pieces of Life Advice from Albert Einstein
Self-Improvement

5 Awe-Inspiring Pieces of Life Advice from Albert Einstein

For decades, the world has been awe-inspired by the genius of German physicist Albert Einstein.Even today, scientists work tirelessly to uncover the secrets of the universe using much of Einstein’s most significant discoveries from over 60 years ago, a lifetime in the world of scientific research. Here are five pieces of wisdom from Albert Einstein on living life:1. Passion drives us to great heightsI have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.Einstein spoke often about the passion he felt for his work and the power of curiosity.Passion is incredibly important as it pertains to what you decide to devote your life to. With passion, you have an unlimited energy that keeps you going even despite great challenges. But more than that, we find joy in pursuing our passions because they’re the things which deeply interest us.The vehicle of passion is curiosity and that is deeply rooted in intuition, another quality that Einstein appreciated. So, find your passion, let your curiosity take hold, and trust where it takes you.2. Nothing can replace the value of personal experienceReading 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.Einstein experienced first hand the effects of consuming large quantities of knowledge. He understood through his work that a large consumption of knowledge from books and not enough time spent applying the knowledge was not productive.Knowledge can’t replace your own personal experience. Whether you’re trying to achieve something or crave a particular human experience, books, movies, articles, and videos are only a starting point. Take what you learn and apply it in your own life to make these things a reality.3. Strive to be of valueStrive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.A hard work ethic is important. However, the results you receive from that work are also heavily dependent on the state of mind while doing said work.If you’re trying to get something, and your actions reflect trying to grasp hold of that thing, you’re likely to be chasing it forever. However, if your actions are about providing value to others (giving instead of taking) and maximizing that value, you’ll tend to receive back a greater value (what you might, ironically, call "success" or the elements of success) because, in a very basic sense, value has a currency.The greatest companies and people in the world are the ones who tend to provide the most value, at least based on what we as people value the most.That’s not to say that success and money are what matters most, simply that the value you provide is the most effective benchmark of achievement and of the value you get from life because it spurs you to create as opposed to take.4. Imagination is powerfulI am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.Imagination tends to be highly underrated. However, it has a place in virtually every great human endeavor, from medicine to science and, of course, art.Einstein understood the value and power of imagination and used it as masterfully as anyone of his time. After all, what Einstein was doing was something no one else had ever done. He needed to look at things– at the fundamental elements of life– in an entirely new way, like piecing together a puzzle which no one else had ever solved.But we do this same thing in our own life, even if we’re not crafting the theory of relativity. Imagination allows us to figure out solutions to our problems, create new things of value in our career, business, or personal life, and see things in a different way that can open up a more balanced and healthy understanding of the world.5. Live a life of serviceI believe in one thing—that only a life lived for others is a life worth living.Einstein was a deeply philosophical being who appeared to spend much of his time outside of his work contemplating the meaning of life.For that reason, he was acutely aware of the interdependence of the human species and all reality. He understood that we’re intrinsically connected– that what one person does affects many others and that what we become, have done, and are to do will be the result of what many others have done in the past.Therefore, a life of service is about far more than just helping your fellow human, it’s about understanding that you’ll have an impact one way or another, just as so many others have impacted you, so to live a life worth living you must make it your mission to contribute positively in some way.

3 Traits Albert Einstein and Elon Musk Have in Common
Entrepreneurs

3 Traits Albert Einstein and Elon Musk Have in Common

It’s hard to go a minute nowadays without seeing a headline that has something to do with Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk or one of his many business ventures. Both idealistic and analytical – from creating electric batteries to literal space rockets– Elon Musk is clearly much more than just a businessman trying to turn a profit. And therein lies why he’s so interesting. For the same reason Steve Jobs was so revered, Musk has a greater mission and a vast vision for the future and the human race as a whole. So it's not surprising that Musk gets compared to Albert Einstein. Einstein was more than just a scientist, he was a philosopher and contemplated the meaning of his work and what the future would hold– and what we need to do to not only survive, but also thrive as a species. But do these two innovators actually have anything in common aside from some vague beliefs? According to New York University professor Melissa Schilling in her new book Quirky, yes, famous physicist Albert Einstein and billionaire visionary businessman Elon Musk have several eerily similar qualities. I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. – Albert Einstein 1. Self-sufficiency One of the most distinct similarities between the two thought leaders is that both experienced a feeling of being detached and out of place throughout childhood. "At first, I thought this was maybe just a side effect of something else related to innovation," says Schilling. "Particularly Einstein and Musk, they were so introspective as children that people thought they were deaf." However, this trait cultivated a high level of self-sufficiency. Musk, who attended seven different schools while growing up, escaped into his own learning frequently due to this feeling of disconnect, consuming huge numbers of books and playing video games frequently. Einstein, similarly, found it easier to rebel because he was disconnected. This played an important part later in his career, as Schilling notes: It's a big part of why he was able to cast away Newtonian concepts that held back other scientists and enabled him to come up with scientific theories that were really revolutionary for his time, Schilling says this disconnect from social constructs played a big part in Musk and Einstein's willingness to step outside the rules and create bold new ideas: "Because they didn't belong to the social world, they didn't have to obey its rules, freeing them to develop bold ideas and stick with them even in the face of criticism," she says. "This highlights the value of spending some time alone, reading, writing and thinking about things that we find intrinsically interesting." 2. Idealism Second, both Einstein and Musk were and are clear idealists. "Einstein wanted to find a simple harmonious truth about how the universe works and Musk wants to save our species by weaning us off of fossil fuels and establishing a colony on Mars," says Schilling. She continues, “When people are genuinely motivated to do something, they will work harder and longer and will stick with their goals in the face of criticism.” It’s this idealistic vision which created– and creates– such fervent work ethic and relentless persistence. Without this, we as people quickly fall off track. We need a big reason behind why we’re doing what we do to remain motivated in the long run. "Pursuing goals they see as intrinsically noble and important made them fiercely motivated and focused and it provided a form of ego defense against criticism and failure," she says. "We can all benefit by cultivating a grand ambition, a goal that is big enough to stretch our vision beyond our current horizon and important enough that it fuels our tenacious effort." 3. Their views on education Lastly, neither Einstein or Musk were model students. "Each of these men chafed at the structure of formal education," says Schilling. Both Einstein and Musk had little respect for the traditional educational structure. Musk would repeatedly skip class in college and just show up to take his exams, while Einstein consistently caused trouble for his teachers by disrespecting authority, missing class and frequently being tardy. However, when it came to the subjects that each loved and had an interest in, they typically scored very high marks. Why does that matter, aside from being an interesting similarity between the two? Well, it brings up an important point: "One of the implications for the rest of us – whether we invest in formal education or not – is that we should look for those topics we find interesting and important and study them intensely on our own terms," Schilling says. "The topics we study on our own are the areas in which we are more likely to develop creative ideas."