Quotes from Albert Einstein

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.

Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear and greed.

If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare me a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German, and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.

Nationalism is an infantile thing. It is the measles of mankind.

The only source of knowledge is experience.

Past is dead Future is uncertain; Present is all you have, So eat, drink and live merry.

My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. 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…

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

I see my life in terms of music.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.

It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom.

At least once a day, allow yourself the freedom to think and dream for yourself.

We experience ourselves our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of 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.

Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.

If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies.... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.

Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature.

Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

What really interests me is whether God had any choice in the creation of the World.

The human spirit must prevail over technology.

Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as hard duty. Never regard study as duty but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs.

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?

I don't try to imagine a personal God; it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it.