Thoughts from Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist and mathematician of the twentieth century,
studied philosophy. He felt deeply that science, mathematics and technology not only
needed to be balanced with philosophy, ethics, spirituality, and the arts, but that
they were merely “different branches of the same tree.” (Continued below.)

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He said, "All religions, arts and sciences are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual toward freedom.” He felt it no mere chance that universities originally developed from clerical schools. “Both churches and universities - insofar as they live up to their true function - serve the ennoblement of the individual. They seek to fulfill this great task by spreading moral and cultural understanding, renouncing the use of brute force,” he explained. “Man owes his strength in the struggle for existence to the fact that he is a social living animal. As little as a battle between single ants of an ant hill is essential for survival, just so little is this the case with the individual members of a human community.” Present world leaders could benefit from this profound truth!

Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.

Human beings are a part of the whole, called by us "the universe," a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our own 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. 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 my talent for absorbing knowledge. The deep emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. Successful people are those who receives a great deal from their fellow people, usually incomparably more than corresponds to their service to them. The value of people, however, should be seen in what they give, and not in what they are able to receive.

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other people, 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.

Everything should be made as simple as possible. . . but not simpler. Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.

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I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone,
best both for the body and the mind.

Try not to become a person of success, but rather a person of value.

I think and think for months, for years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false.
The hundredth time I am right.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science. Those to whom
this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder
and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: their eyes are closed.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own
reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when one
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. Never lose a holy curiosity.

Look deep into nature and you will find the answer to everything.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

People's true worth can be measured by considering the degree and the
manner in which they have succeeded in liberating themselves from their egos.

The mind can proceed only so far upon what it knows and can prove.
There comes a point where the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge,
but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Concern for humans themselves and their fate must always form
the chief interest of all technical endeavors, concern for the
great unsolved problems of the organization of labor and the
distribution of goods--in order that the creations of our mind
shall be a blessing and not a curse to humankind. Never
forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.

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.

The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking.
It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.

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.

From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know:
that we are here for the sake of each other - above all for those upon whose
smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless
unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.
Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built
upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly
I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.

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