Albert Einstein

[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.

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.

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.

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.

[A]s a student, it was quite difficult for me to grasp some of the basic theories because I had an extremely bad memory.

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.

[I]nvention is not the result of any logical thinking even if the end product is directly tied to the logical figuration.

[Between 1896-1900,] [a]ll that I cared about was filling myself with more knowledge.

I was lucky that my intellectual depression only lasted for one year after I had satisfactorily finished my studies.

[A]n academic career in which a person is forced to produce scientific writings in great amounts creates a danger of intellectual superficiality.

I realize, of course, the value of my contributions to science, but I don't consider myself superior or different from any other men.

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.

[Solving problems] is one of my greatest satisfactions in life[,] [] and the harder they are, the more satisfaction do I get out of them.

[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.

[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?

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.

My scientific work is motivated by an irresistible longing to understand the secrets of nature and by no other feelings.

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.

[My major goal throughout my life has been] the quest for truth. This has not been easy, but it has been satisfying.

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.

I have used every opportunity to help the underdog but, of course, only under the condition that the person is within his rights.

I always felt very happy living in America, because I think that it is a wonderful country to live in.

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.

[The] external quest for material comfort and economic security [in the United States] contributes to [a] superficiality of thought and feelings.

Prohibition was definitely a bad thing for [the United States].

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.

[T]he European in general is much more of a pessimist than the American.

The longer I live in America, the more sad I feel about [the situation of the black population].

[I]f individuals are really honest with themselves about this problem, they would undoubtedly recognize how wrong this bias [against black people] is.

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].

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.

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.

I am of the opinion that [] Hitler [] did cast a hypnotic spell on the German people with his tremendous power of speech.

I detest regimentation. This is not to say that I am opposed to an organization where one man is the brains and the leader.

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.

I think that the biggest weapon of the totalitarian states is the oppression of the individual by economic means.

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.

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.

[T]he practicability or impracticability of our goal does not detract from the ideal.

It is impossible to despise an artist from another country just because that country's government takes on differing political views.

I think that science without religion is lame and, conversely, that religion without science is blind.

It seems to me that whoever doesn't wonder about the truth in religion and in science might as well be dead.

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.

[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.

I think that the so-called Judaic God is really just a negation of superstition.

Man, I feel, is most properly evaluated in relation to what he gives rather than what he receives.

I do not believe that the development of specialties is nearly as important in schooling as the ability for independent thinking and judgment.

The most valuable asset in education is reading.

Knowledge, taken by itself, is dead. It takes good teachers and schools to make it come alive again.

[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.

I have never really found it difficult to explain basic laws of nature to children.

I have always been amazed at the questions that children ask about science.

[I]n my vocabulary, the word ‘stupid’ does not exist as far as mathematics and the sciences are concerned.

[I]t is the teacher's duty to find what facet of his subject or what approach will strike each individual student as interesting.

Anybody can teach someone who adapts quickly to learning, but it takes a real teacher to reach those pupils who are mentally slower.

I feel that people do not live in the same world as I do.

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.

I am not, after all, infallible.

How a person chooses to dress is so unimportant.

[Y]ou can be pretty sure that the outer appearance of man is probably misleading.

What really matters is how a person is dressed inside.

One should draw his attention from others not by his outer appearance but rather by his inner qualities.

Real inner beauty is expressed best in a man who will never lie and has no thoughts of deceiving anybody.

[G]enuine inner beauty is expressed in a person who has no malice towards anyone.

Kindness towards other human beings is [] of supreme importance.

[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.

The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life.

[T]he less that I can get along with in daily life, such as automobiles and socks, the freer I am from these drudgeries.

When I [read biographies], I like to envision my life in connection with the life of the person who is written about.

I would have enjoyed writing some select biographies [] of people dedicated to anything with passion and with truth.

Truth! Now there is the point!

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.

[I]f more European intellectuals had had Madame Curie's modesty, conditions there might have been much brighter.

[Gandhi's] concept of passive resistance to one's enemies was a great leap in combating war.

I consider [Gandhi] [] to be the greatest political genius of our time.

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.

The absence of [receptive and creative] people [] helped to make possible the rise of Hitler and Mussolini.

Unlike one hundred years ago, people today are mostly like sheep.

[As] population has increased tremendously over the years, the number of outstanding people per capita has declined.

[L]eadership has been usurped by organizations, companies, and committees. This, I think, is a sad status.

[O]rganizations, as such, do not respond to problems with bold thinking, but rather with caution. This is where the individual reigns supreme.

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.

Individuals must seek to excel, but their subsequent achievements should not be looked upon as supernatural.

[A]n individual can only do good when his actions are directed toward the promotion of the good of his fellow man.

[Chess] is a very competitive game and I do not really enjoy that kind of competition.

[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.

Mozart's music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as the inner beauty of the universe, itself.