Dive into the inspirational, creative, and brilliant mind of Albert Einstein
One of the most famous and influential scientists to ever live celebrates his 140th birthday on March 14. The man who drastically altered our understanding of how the universe works contributed to the disciplines of physics, mathematics, and education. In honor of his birthday and brilliant mind, take a look at some of his most powerful citations that continue to profoundly affect modern humanity today.
On being unique
"Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts."
On the importance of imagination
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
On authority
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
On value
"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.
On the fallacy of labels
"I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever."
On being great
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
On what counts
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
On genius
"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."
On the present moment
"A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be."
On curiosity
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
On problem solving
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
On education
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”
On understanding
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.”
On nature
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
On how to live
“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”
On insanity
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
On stupidity
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
On forming opinions
“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.”
On technology
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of i****s.”
On intelligence
“As a human being, one has been endowed with just enough intelligence to be able to see clearly how utterly inadequate that intelligence is when confronted with what exists.”
On limits
“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”
On honesty
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”
On success
“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y plus Z, where X is work, Y is play, and Z is keeping your mouth s**t.”
On making mistakes
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
On talent
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
On what is valuable
“Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things.”
On learning
“Once you stop learning, you start dying.”
On peace
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
On human nature
“Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.”
On certainty
"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."
On humility
"As a human being, one has been endowed with just enough intelligence to be able to see clearly how utterly inadequate that intelligence is when confronted with what exists."
On common sense
"Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach eighteen."
On education
"The aim [of education] must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals who, however, see in the service to the community their highest life problem."
On daring to be different
“The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before.”
On how to learn
“That is the way to learn the most. When you are doing something with such enjoyment that you don’t notice that the time passes.”
