"I believe in intuition and inspiration. … At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. When the eclipse of 1919 confirmed my intuition, I was not in the least surprised. In fact I would have been astonished had it turned out otherwise. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research." ~ -What Life Means to Einstein, An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck Saturday Evening Post, 1929

“Nationalism is an infantile disease. As a citizen of Germany, I saw how excessive nationalism can spread like a disease bringing tragedy to millions. ... I am against any nationalism, even in the guise of mere patriotism. Privileges based on position and property have always seemed to me unjust and pernicious, as did any exaggerated personality cult.” (When asked by Viereck if he considered himself to be a German or a Jew. )

"Nature shows us only the the tail of the lion. But there is no doubt in my mind that the lion belongs with it even if he cannot reveal himself to the eye all at once because of his huge dimension. We see him only the way a louse sitting upon him would.” Letter to Heinrich Zangger (10 March 1914), quoted in The Curious History of Relativity by Jean Eisenstaedt (2006), p. 126

"Concepts that have proven useful in ordering things easily achieve such authority over us that we forget their earthly origins and accept them as unalterable givens.” Obituary for physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach (Nachruf auf Ernst Mach), Physikalische Zeitschrift 17 (1916), p. 101

"To punish me for my contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.” ~ attributed to Einstein

“You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.” ~ attributed to Einstein

“[I do not] carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books.” ~ In response to not knowing the speed of sound as included in the Edison Test: New York Times (18 May 1921)

“...The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.” ~ New York Times, May 18, 1921

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it.” Speech to students at the California Institute of Technology, in "Einstein Sees Lack in Applying Science", The New York Times (16 February 1931)

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." ~ In answer to a question asked by the editors of Youth, a journal of Young Israel of Williamsburg, NY. Quoted in the New York Times (June 20, 1932), p17

“A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.” ~ 'Atomic Education Urged by Einstein'', New York Times (25 May 1946).

“Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.” ~ Remark made during Einstein's first visit to Princeton University (April 1921) as quoted in Einstein (1973) by R. W. Clark, Ch. 14.

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. You cannot subjugate a nation forcibly unless you wipe out every man, woman, and child. Unless you wish to use such drastic measures, you must find a way of settling your disputes without resort to arms.”

“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work and makes life easier bring us so much happiness?” the simple answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of it." ~ The Ultimate Quotable Einstein (ed. Princeton University Press, 2010)

“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity." ~ An explanation of relativity which he gave to his secretary Helen Dukas to convey to non-scientists and reporters, as quoted in Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (1957) by James B. Simpson; also in Expandable Quotable Einstein (2005) edited by Alice Calaprice

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He (sic) experiences himself, his thought and feelings a something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a king of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Out task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening or circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and foundation for inner security.” ~ Letter, February 12, 1950. Reported in: The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice p. 206

“One may say "the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility. ... The fact that it is comprehensible is a miracle.” ~ Daedalus, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Physics and Reality (1936)

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understand the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.” ~ letter to Morris Raphael Cohen, professor emeritus of philosophy at the College of the City of New York, defending the controversial appointment of Bertrand Russell to a teaching position, March 19, 1940.

“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom. ...” ~ "Moral Decay" (1937); Later published in Out of My Later Years (1950)

“Perfection of means and confusion of goals seem — in my opinion — to characterize our age.” ~ Einstein, Out of My Latter Years, 1950 (Great Ideas of Western Man)

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility or the meaning of such a comparison. But he certainly believes that, as his knowledge increases, his picture of reality will become simpler and simpler and will explain a wider and wider range of his sensuous impressions. He may also believe in the existence of the ideal limit of knowledge and that it is approached by the human mind. He may call this ideal limit the objective truth." ~ The Evolution of Physics (1938) (co-written with Leopold Infeld)

“Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics, I can assure you mine are still greater." ~ Letter to high school student Barbara Lee Wilson (7 January 1943), Einstein Archives 42-606

“... So many people today — and even professional scientists — seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is — in my opinion — the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth.” [Correspondence to Robert A. Thornton in 1944]

“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessary solving of an existing one.” ~ Statement on the Atomic Bomb to Raymond Swing, before 1 October 1945, as reported in Atlantic Monthly, vol. 176, no. 5 (November 1945), in Einstein on Politics, p. 373

“Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.” ~ as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949) edited by Paul A. Schilpp

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." ~ Letter to his son Eduard (5 February 1930), as quoted in Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe, (2007), p. 367

“If I was not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music. ... I cannot tell if I would have done any creative work of importance in music, but I do know that I get most joy in life out of my violin.” ~ Quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson, p. 387

“The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer." ~ Einstein's God — Albert Einstein's Quest as a Scientist and as a Jew to Replace a Forsaken God (1997) by Robert N. Goldman

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. Never lose a holy curiosity. Don't stop to marvel." ~ Death of a Genius LIFE magazine (2 May 1955) statement to William Miller, p. 64.

“A dictatorship means muzzles all round and consequently stultification. Science can flourish only in an atmosphere of free speech." ~ “Science and Dictatorship," in Dictatorship on Its Trial, by Eminent Leaders of Modern Thought (1930) - later as Dictatorship on Trial (1931)

“I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts.” ~ Letter to Michele Besso (8 October 1952). According to Scientifically speaking: a dictionary of quotations, Volume 1 (2002), p. 154

“Invention is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure.” ~ From "Autobiographische Skizze" (18 April 1955). Translation from Subtle is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein by Abraham Pais (1982), p. 131.

“It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.” ~ "On the Method of Theoretical Physics" The Herbert Spencer Lecture, delivered at Oxford (10 June 1933); also published in Philosophy of Science, Vol. 1, No. 2 (April 1934), pp. 163-169., p. 165.

“I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves — this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.” ~ "Mein Weltbild" (1931) ["My World-view", or "My View of the World" or "The World as I See It"], translated as the title essay of the book The World as I See It (1949). Various translated editions have been published of this essay; or portions of it, including one titled "What I Believe"; another compilation which includes it is Ideas and Opinions (1954)

“A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving... .” ~Mein Weltbild (My World-view) (1931)

“My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. ...” ~ "What I Believe"

“Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.” ~ talking about Gandhi

“What I particularly admire in him (Pablo Casals) is the firm stand he has taken, not only against the oppressors of his countrymen, but also against those opportunists who are always ready to compromise with the Devil. He perceives very clearly that the world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it." ~ Einstein's tribute to Pablo Casals (30 March 1953), in Conversations with Casals (1957), page 11, by Josep Maria Corredor, translated from Conversations avec Pablo Casals : souvenirs et opinions d'un musicien (1955)

“I do not believe in freedom of the will. Schopenhauer's words: “Man can do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wills” accompany me in all situations throughout my life and reconcile me with the actions of others even if they are rather painful to me. This awareness of the lack of freedom of will preserves me from taking too seriously myself and my fellow men as acting and deciding individuals and from losing my temper.” My Credo, Speech to the German League of Human Rights, Berlin (Autumn 1932); as published in Einstein: A Life in Science (1994) by Michael White and John Gribbin. This repeats or revises some statements and ideas of Mein Weltbild (1931) https://einstein-website.de/