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[I]n 1896 [] I realized how set I was against the drilling and memorizing of formulas that was involved in mathematics. It was then, I suppose, that I took an intense interest in physics.
Albert Einstein eb00 -
I still feel that, if one gets too involved with higher mathematics, one uses too much energy that can be more beneficially applied to the main goal at hand.
Albert Einstein eb01 -
I remember in Munich having my Latin teacher tell me that I would never be able to do anything that would make sense in this life.
Albert Einstein eb02 -
I was very determined to do what I intended to do, but my abilities were very modest, and I had to understand everything through my own handiwork.
Albert Einstein eb03 -
[A]s a student, it was quite difficult for me to grasp some of the basic theories because I had an extremely bad memory.
Albert Einstein eb04 -
The thought that I had [between 1896-1900] was that if a person could run after a light wave with the same speed as light, you would have a wave arrangement which could be completely independent of time.
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[I]nvention is not the result of any logical thinking even if the end product is directly tied to the logical figuration.
Albert Einstein eb06 -
[Between 1896-1900,] [a]ll that I cared about was filling myself with more knowledge.
Albert Einstein eb07 -
I was lucky that my intellectual depression only lasted for one year after I had satisfactorily finished my studies.
Albert Einstein eb08 -
[A]n academic career in which a person is forced to produce scientific writings in great amounts creates a danger of intellectual superficiality.
Albert Einstein eb09 -
I realize, of course, the value of my contributions to science, but I don't consider myself superior or different from any other men.
Albert Einstein eb10 -
I am not more gifted than anybody else. I am just more curious than the average person and I will not give up on a problem until I have found the proper solution.
Albert Einstein eb11 -
[Solving problems] is one of my greatest satisfactions in life[,] [] and the harder they are, the more satisfaction do I get out of them.
Albert Einstein eb12 -
[Invention] is not a matter of being more gifted but a matter of being more curious and maybe more patient until you solve a problem.
Albert Einstein eb13 -
[W]hy [] should other people give me so much respect and devotion for things that I have done when I did them solely for the purpose of my own drive?
Albert Einstein eb14 -
I am so well aware that there are certain people who hate me, but I cannot truthfully say that this touches me because I feel almost as if that feeling comes from an entirely different world with which I have no contact.
Albert Einstein eb15 -
My scientific work is motivated by an irresistible longing to understand the secrets of nature and by no other feelings.
Albert Einstein eb16 -
I think that any student who is sincere about his work and who has a basic knowledge of theoretical physics should have no problem whatsoever understanding the ideas behind my Relativity Theory.
Albert Einstein eb17 -
[My major goal throughout my life has been] the quest for truth. This has not been easy, but it has been satisfying.
Albert Einstein eb18 -
I love to reconstruct proofs of mathematical and physical theorems that I have long known. I don't do this with any goal in mind but to indulge in the pleasant occupation of thinking.
Albert Einstein eb19 -
I have used every opportunity to help the underdog but, of course, only under the condition that the person is within his rights.
Albert Einstein eb20 -
I always felt very happy living in America, because I think that it is a wonderful country to live in.
Albert Einstein eb21 -
Somehow, in America, [the great discrepancies of wealth] [aren't] allowed to undermine the healthy self-confidence and natural respects for the dignity of each individual.
Albert Einstein eb22 -
[The] external quest for material comfort and economic security [in the United States] contributes to [a] superficiality of thought and feelings.
Albert Einstein eb23 -
Prohibition was definitely a bad thing for [the United States].
Albert Einstein eb24 -
I don't think that different ideas and views on public affairs by individuals can be exchanged quite as freely and effectively as in a public place.
Albert Einstein eb25 -
[T]he European in general is much more of a pessimist than the American.
Albert Einstein eb26 -
The longer I live in America, the more sad I feel about [the situation of the black population].
Albert Einstein eb27 -
[I]f individuals are really honest with themselves about this problem, they would undoubtedly recognize how wrong this bias [against black people] is.
Albert Einstein eb28 -
The ability in [the United States] to convert their peacetime industry into a wartime economy within the shortest period of time [is of extreme importance in winning a war].
Albert Einstein eb29 -
Americans have the typical optimistic outlook of all children, they're kind and friendly [and have no envy of others]. Perhaps, if they are lacking one thing, it is self-confidence.
Albert Einstein eb30 -
It can never be said that the German people can't be blamed for putting Hitler into power, because in this case, the unusual fact existed that Hitler's complete program was already published in his book, Mein Kampf.
Albert Einstein eb31 -
I am of the opinion that [] Hitler [] did cast a hypnotic spell on the German people with his tremendous power of speech.
Albert Einstein eb32 -
I detest regimentation. This is not to say that I am opposed to an organization where one man is the brains and the leader.
Albert Einstein eb33 -
Unfortunately, there is a built-in danger in any organization or political division that the members or the electorate abdicate their responsibilities to think and leave the burden of this to their leaders.
Albert Einstein eb34 -
I think that the biggest weapon of the totalitarian states is the oppression of the individual by economic means.
Albert Einstein eb35 -
I feel sad that the things which I gave [mankind] [i.e. the atomic bomb] had been used for destruction instead of for the benefit of mankind.
Albert Einstein eb36 -
I think that in the not-too-distant future, atomic energy will replace ordinary fuels for engines, for example, in ships and airplanes [...] [guaranteeing] a much longer operating time for the engines.
Albert Einstein eb37 -
[T]he practicability or impracticability of our goal does not detract from the ideal.
Albert Einstein eb38 -
It is impossible to despise an artist from another country just because that country's government takes on differing political views.
Albert Einstein eb39 -
I think that science without religion is lame and, conversely, that religion without science is blind.
Albert Einstein eb40 -
It seems to me that whoever doesn't wonder about the truth in religion and in science might as well be dead.
Albert Einstein eb41 -
Religion should have nothing to do with a fear of living or a fear of death, but should instead be a striving after rational knowledge.
Albert Einstein eb42 -
[D]espite the fact that Jewish people have always been thinly populated in various countries, they have always had a disproportionate number of outstanding public figures.
Albert Einstein eb43 -
I think that the so-called Judaic God is really just a negation of superstition.
Albert Einstein eb44 -
Man, I feel, is most properly evaluated in relation to what he gives rather than what he receives.
Albert Einstein eb45 -
I do not believe that the development of specialties is nearly as important in schooling as the ability for independent thinking and judgment.
Albert Einstein eb46 -
The most valuable asset in education is reading.
Albert Einstein eb47 -
Knowledge, taken by itself, is dead. It takes good teachers and schools to make it come alive again.
Albert Einstein eb48 -
[O]ne of my deepest regrets [is that I didn't teach more] because I would have liked to have had more contact with children.
Albert Einstein eb49 -
I have never really found it difficult to explain basic laws of nature to children.
Albert Einstein eb50 -
I have always been amazed at the questions that children ask about science.
Albert Einstein eb51 -
[I]n my vocabulary, the word ‘stupid’ does not exist as far as mathematics and the sciences are concerned.
Albert Einstein eb52 -
[I]t is the teacher's duty to find what facet of his subject or what approach will strike each individual student as interesting.
Albert Einstein eb53 -
Anybody can teach someone who adapts quickly to learning, but it takes a real teacher to reach those pupils who are mentally slower.
Albert Einstein eb54 -
I feel that people do not live in the same world as I do.
Albert Einstein eb55 -
I do not feel at ease with the fact that [my] popularity sometimes leads people to accept my public or private statements as valid just by virtue of my asserting them.
Albert Einstein eb56 -
I am not, after all, infallible.
Albert Einstein eb57 -
How a person chooses to dress is so unimportant.
Albert Einstein eb58 -
[Y]ou can be pretty sure that the outer appearance of man is probably misleading.
Albert Einstein eb59 -
What really matters is how a person is dressed inside.
Albert Einstein eb60 -
One should draw his attention from others not by his outer appearance but rather by his inner qualities.
Albert Einstein eb61 -
Real inner beauty is expressed best in a man who will never lie and has no thoughts of deceiving anybody.
Albert Einstein eb62 -
[G]enuine inner beauty is expressed in a person who has no malice towards anyone.
Albert Einstein eb63 -
Kindness towards other human beings is [] of supreme importance.
Albert Einstein eb64 -
[A]nybody who believes that his function in this world is unproductive or unnecessary is the type of person who does not deserve to be in our world.
Albert Einstein eb65 -
The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life.
Albert Einstein eb66 -
[T]he less that I can get along with in daily life, such as automobiles and socks, the freer I am from these drudgeries.
Albert Einstein eb67 -
When I [read biographies], I like to envision my life in connection with the life of the person who is written about.
Albert Einstein eb68 -
I would have enjoyed writing some select biographies [] of people dedicated to anything with passion and with truth.
Albert Einstein eb69 -
Truth! Now there is the point!
Albert Einstein eb70 -
Not only did [Madame Curie] do outstanding work in her lifetime and not only did she help humanity greatly by her work, but she invested all of her work with the highest moral quality.
Albert Einstein eb71 -
[I]f more European intellectuals had had Madame Curie's modesty, conditions there might have been much brighter.
Albert Einstein eb72 -
[Gandhi's] concept of passive resistance to one's enemies was a great leap in combating war.
Albert Einstein eb73 -
I consider [Gandhi] [] to be the greatest political genius of our time.
Albert Einstein eb74 -
I think that [] great people have to possess a strong urge to understand and to be receptive and creative in all of their worldly dealings.
Albert Einstein eb75 -
The absence of [receptive and creative] people [] helped to make possible the rise of Hitler and Mussolini.
Albert Einstein eb76 -
Unlike one hundred years ago, people today are mostly like sheep.
Albert Einstein eb77 -
[As] population has increased tremendously over the years, the number of outstanding people per capita has declined.
Albert Einstein eb78 -
[L]eadership has been usurped by organizations, companies, and committees. This, I think, is a sad status.
Albert Einstein eb79 -
[O]rganizations, as such, do not respond to problems with bold thinking, but rather with caution. This is where the individual reigns supreme.
Albert Einstein eb80 -
The fact that, in general, scientific insights have become limited to a small group of people accounts in part for the weakening of a nation's philosophical thinking and thus contributes to its intellectual decline.
Albert Einstein eb81 -
Individuals must seek to excel, but their subsequent achievements should not be looked upon as supernatural.
Albert Einstein eb82 -
[A]n individual can only do good when his actions are directed toward the promotion of the good of his fellow man.
Albert Einstein eb83 -
[Chess] is a very competitive game and I do not really enjoy that kind of competition.
Albert Einstein eb84 -
[T]he main reason why I do not like the game of chess is [that] [] the main goal of the game is to defeat your partner through the use of various types of tricks and deceptions.
Albert Einstein eb85 -
Mozart's music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as the inner beauty of the universe, itself.
Albert Einstein eb86