50 Lessons from Albert Einstein

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50 Lessons from Albert Einstein: 

  1. A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
  2. It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
  3. Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
  4. If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
  5. It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.
  6. It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.
  7. A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem.
  8. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
  9. Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.
  10. No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
  11. Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.
  12. As far as I’m concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue.
  13. I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
  14. I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.
  15. Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age.
  16. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
  17. Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
  18. Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.
  19. Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.
  20. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
  21. Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
  22. Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler.
  23. 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.
  24. In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
  25. Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.
  26. Force always attracts men of low morality.
  27. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
  28. He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.
  29. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
  30. I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
  31. I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
  32. If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
  33. If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
  34. If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.
  35. Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.
  36. Imagination is more important than knowledge.
  37. Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.
  38. Never lose a holy curiosity.
  39. Isn’t it strange that I who have written only unpopular books should be such a popular fellow?
  40. It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
  41. It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
  42. Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.
  43. Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.
  44. Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
  45. Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
  46. Love is a better teacher than duty.
  47. Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events.
  48. Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
  49. Information is not knowledge.
  50. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

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