“The greatest scientists are artists as well.”

“Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.”

“I thought of that while riding my bicycle.”

“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.”

“We all know that light travels faster than sound. That's why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak.”

“The tendencies we have mentioned are something new for America. They arose when, under the influence of the two World Wars and the consequent concentration of all forces on a military goal, a predominantly military mentality developed, which with the almost sudden victory became even more accentuated. The characteristic feature of this mentality is that people place the importance of what Bertrand Russell so tellingly terms “naked power” far above all other factors which affect the relations between peoples. The Germans, misled by Bismarck’s successes in particular, underwent just such a transformation of their mentality—in consequence of which they were entirely ruined in less than a hundred years. I must frankly confess that the foreign policy of the United States since the termination of hostilities has reminded me, sometimes irresistibly, of the attitude of Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II, and I know that, independent of me, this analogy has most painfully occurred to others as well. It is characteristic of the military mentality that non-human factors (atom bombs, strategic bases, weapons of all sorts, the possession of raw materials, etc.) are held essential, while the human being, his desires and thoughts—in short, the psychological factors—are considered as unimportant and secondary. Herein lies a certain resemblance to Marxism, at least insofar as its theoretical side alone is kept in view. The individual is degraded to a mere instrument; he becomes “human materiel.” The normal ends of human aspiration vanish with such a viewpoint. Instead, the military mentality raises “naked power” as a goal in itself—one of the strangest illusions to which men can succumb.”

“Wenn man zwei Stunden lang mit einem Mädchen zusammensitzt, meint man, es wäre eine Minute. Sitzt man jedoch eine Minute auf einem heißen Ofen, meint man, es wären zwei Stunden. Das ist Relativität.”

“Even on the most solemn occasions I got away without wearing socks and hid that lack of civilization in high boots”

“Don't dream of being a good person, be a human being is valuable and gives value to life.”

“I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research.”

“There are two important things for full success in life: 1. Don´t tell everything you know.”

“True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist.” 

“I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking”

“It is this mythical, or rather symbolic, content of the religious traditions which is likely to come into conflict with science. This occurs whenever this religious stock of ideas contains dogmatically fixed statements on subjects which belong in the domain of science.”

“I have reached an age where if someone tells me to wear socks, I dont have to”