Markkus Rovito - Einstein in His Own Words: 100+ Quotes (Albert Einstein Quotes)

Albert Einstein was born in 1879. By the time of his death in 1955, the world Einstein was born into would be completely foreign to him. Scientific breakthroughs and advancement over the 76 years of his life permanently changed the world.

While Einstein was regarded as brilliant by both his contemporaries and predecessors, Einstein had a humble assessment of his mental faculties.

Einstein published his theory of relativity in 1905, at the tender age of 26, and years later it was all but validated by the scientific community at large. Yet, the source of his greatest triumph also lead to his greatest sources of consternation.

Well beyond Einsteins foresight, his theory of relativity ultimately lead science down a path which resulted in the splitting of the atom nuclear fission and, ultimately, the atomic bomb. Einstein was a lifelong pacifist, although Hitlers genocide and European rampage forced Einstein to reluctantly accept the use of force against Germany as the only viable option.

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His letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the run-up to World War II, which warned the president of Germanys likely attempt to create an atomic bomb, was credited for birthing Americas own search for a nuclear bomb. Although Einsteins theory of relativity lead many people to consider Einstein the father of the atom bomb, he never contributed any work to Americas Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bomb. This misunderstanding caused Einstein an enormous amount of pain.

The theory of quantum mechanics served as Einsteins other great foible in life, as it contradicted his theory of relativity. He spent much of his life striving for a unified field theory that would bring relativity and quantum mechanics into harmony. This search still continues to this day.

Einstein was a non-believing Jew, a German who renounced his citizenship, an estranged family man, and a lover of solitude. In a way, he belonged nowhere, yet the world embraced him. His life might be considered tragic if he hadnt held onto his quick humor and reverence until the very end.

It is just as important to make knowledge live and to keep it alive as to solve specific problems.

This quote is from the book The World As I See It , under the section In Honor of Arnold Berliner's Seventieth Birthday.

I am only coming to Princeton to research, not to teach. There is too much education altogether, especially in American schools. The only rational way of educating is to be an example of what to avoid, if one cant be the other sort.

In 1933, Einstein was in California as a visiting professor when Adolf Hitler took power in Germany. Einstein never returned to his former home. Instead, he spent some time in Belgium and England before landing in Princeton New Jersey to work at the university. He stayed associated with the school until his death in 1955.

Contact between the intellectual and the masses must not be lost. It is necessary for the elevation of society and no less so for renewing the strength of the intellectual worker; for the flower of science does not grow in the desert.

This quote is from the book The World As I See It , under the section Congratulations Dr. Sold .

The wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labour in every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the permanent things which we create in common.

This quote is from the book The World As I See It , under the section Teachers and Pupils .

Preceding generations have presented us, in a highly developed science and mechanical knowledge, with a most valuable gift which carries with it possibilities of making our life free and beautiful such as no previous generation has enjoyed. But this gift also brings with it dangers to our existence as great as any that have ever threatened it.

This quote is from the book The World As I See It , under the section Teachers and Pupils. This particular quote comes from Einsteins Address to the Students Disarmament Meeting.

Most teachers waste their time by asking questions that are intended to discover what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning is to discover what the pupil does know or is capable of knowing.

Einstein highly valued education and learning, but he was known to have critiques on the common methods of education.

You should try to remember that a dedicated teacher is a valuable messenger from the past, and can be an escort to your future.

Photographer and author Alan Richards quoted Einstein saying this in response to a student complaining about a teacher.

Dont worry about your marks. Just make sure that you keep up with the work and that you dont have to repeat a year. It is not necessary to have good marks in everything.

Einstein said this to his son Hans Albert in 1916. Famously, Einstein was not the best student himself.

Failure and deprivation are the best educators and purifiers.

Einstein was famously humble and knew that to succeed in any grand way, one had to accept the inevitable failure that would precede it. 1919

It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts, but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.

From 1921, this quote was part of a response to Thomas Edison saying that college education is worthless.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

This was an answer from a 1929 interview with the Saturday Evening Post. Einstein was asked whether he trusted his imagination or his knowledge more.

Regarding sex education: no secrets!

Here is another quote from Einsteins address to the World League for Sexual Reform in Berlin, 1929. He saw no point in keeping important information from people.

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

This is the translation of an Einstein quote emblazoned on a small bronze plaque in the astronomy building of Pasadena City College. Einstein dedicated the buildings observatory in 1931.

I do not like to state an opinion on a matter unless I know the precise facts.

This was Einsteins response in 1945 to a New York Times question about the progress of a German atomic bomb.

The crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship material success as a preparation for his future career.

This quote comes from an Einstein essay titled Why Socialism? from 1949.

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

This quote comes from a 1952 New York Times interview that was later repurposed as an essay titled Education for Independent Thought.

I am opposed to examinationsthey only deter from the interest in studying. No more than two exams should be given throughout a students [college] career. I would hold seminars, and if the young people are interested and listen, I would give them a diploma.