“Common to all these types is the anthropomorphic character of their conception of God. In general, only individuals of exceptional endowments, and exceptionally high-minded communities, rise to any considerable extent above this level. But there is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it. The individual feels the futility of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in the world of thought. Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole. The beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already appear at an early stage of development, e.g., in many of the Psalms of David and in some of the Prophets. Buddhism, as we have learned especially from the wonderful writings of Schopenhauer, contains a much stronger element of this.”
―
Albert Einstein
“I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.”
―
Albert Einstein
“Phantasie ist wichtiger als Wissen, denn Wissen ist begrenzt.”
―
Albert Einstein
“Everyone must become their own person, however frightful that may be.”
―
Albert Einstein
“It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere... Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”
―
Albert Einstein
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”
―
Albert Einstein
“Hope that justice will be done to those brave men who stood up for their convictions.”
―
Albert Einstein
“I'd rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right.”
―
Albert Einstein
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
―
Albert Einstein
“I have deep faith that the principle of the universe will be beautiful and simple.”
―
Albert Einstein
“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead.”
―
Albert Einstein
