The quotations of

Albert Einstein

German-born theoretical physicist

1879–1955

95 quotes, most often on Science, God and War & Peace. Part of the Scientists collection.

A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way. But intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.
Letter to Dr. H. L. Gordon (May 3, 1949—AEA 58-217) as quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe (2007) by Walter Isaacson
- Experience
- Ideas
A theory is the more impressive, the greater the simplicity of its premises, the more diverse things it connects, and the wider its scope.
“Autobiographical Notes” (1949)
- Science
To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.
What I Believe (1930)
- Happiness
- Morality
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions that differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
Essay to Leo Baeck (1953)
- Thinking
I made one great mistake in my life⁠—when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification⁠—the danger that the Germans would make them.
Recorded by Linus Pauling, “Note to Self regarding a meeting with Albert Einstein. November 16, 1954”
- War & Peace
I am neither a German citizen nor do I believe in anything that can be described as a “Jewish faith.” But I am a Jew and glad to belong to the Jewish people, though I do not regard it in any way as chosen.
Letter to the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith (April 1920), as quoted in Alice Calaprice, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein (2010), p. 195
- Religion
May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers!
The World As I See It (1949)
- War & Peace
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.
Interview with George Sylvester Viereck (1929), as reported in Denis Brian, Einstein: A Life (1996)
- Christianity
In the judgment of the most competent living mathematicians, Fräulein Noether was the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began.
Obituary for Emmy Noether (1935)
- Genius
- Women
Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice keeps me from feeling isolated.
My Credo (1932)
- Justice
- Truth & Lies
Without “ethical culture,” there is no salvation for humanity.
“The Need for Ethical Culture”, message on the 75th anniversary of the Ethical Culture Society (5 January 1951)
- Morality
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil.
Why Socialism? (1949)
- Economics
Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all.
Why Socialism? (1949)
- Technology
- Work
I believe, indeed, that overemphasis on the purely intellectual attitude, often directed solely to the practical and factual, in our education, has led directly to the impairment of ethical values.
“The Need for Ethical Culture”, message on the 75th anniversary of the Ethical Culture Society (5 January 1951)
- Education
- Morality
What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer this question at all implies a religion.
The World As I See It (1949)
- Life & Death
- Religion

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