“Through the reading of popular scientific books I soon reached the conviction that much in the stories of the Bible could not be true. The consequence was a positively fanatic orgy of freethinking coupled with the impression that youth is intentionally being deceived by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression. Mistrust of every kind of authority grew out of this experience, a skeptical attitude toward the convictions that were alive in any specific social environment - an attitude that has never again left me.
- Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes, edited by Paul Arthur Schilpp”
―
Albert Einstein
“The best that Gauss has given us was likewise an exclusive production. If he had not created his geometry of surfaces, which served Riemann as a basis, it is scarcely conceivable that anyone else would have discovered it. I do not hesitate to confess that to a certain extent a similar pleasure may be found by absorbing ourselves in questions of pure geometry.”
―
Albert Einstein
“Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.”
―
Albert Einstein
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”
―
Albert Einstein
“It is important to foster individuality, for only the individual can produce the new ideas.”
―
Albert Einstein
“The most important question a person can ask is, "Is the Universe a friendly place?”
―
Albert Einstein
“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.”
―
Albert Einstein
“This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!”
―
Albert Einstein
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
―
Albert Einstein
“How many people are trapped in their everyday habits: part numb, part frightened, part indifferent? To have a better life we must keep choosing how we're living.”
―
Albert Einstein
“I have reached an age where if someone tells me to wear socks, I dont have to”
―
Albert Einstein
“In two weeks the sheeplike masses of any country can be worked up by the newspapers into such a state of excited fury that men are prepared to put on uniforms and kill and be killed, for the sake of the sordid ends of a few interested parties.”
―
Albert Einstein
“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are they crazy?” –Albert Einstein”
―
Albert Einstein
“How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.”
―
Albert Einstein
