JF Ptak Science Books LLC Post 251
My thanks to Jeff De Cagna for the suggestion of Wordle-ing a favorite Einstein quotation--its a fine idea. What I've done is take 200 or so quotes and made one large file of them and fed it into the Wordle-izer with the following results (below) Again Wordle weights words in size according to the number of times it appears in a document, so the resulting image is a wort of word map, a lay of the land if you will of this collection of quotes, showing the words most often used by Einstein (at least in the quotes that I have selected). The longish quote list is below in the continue reading section(unfortunately without source attribution).
Clicking on the image will enlarge it and make it clearer.
It is interesting to note that the largest word here seems to be "can", followed closely by "one", which I think is really another way of his saying "you" or "us" or "we"--so, we get "you can" or "we can" or "one can", speaking to the possibility of possibility, of effort, of moving forward, of trying. Imagination, effort, thought, creation--that's what the man was all about, and I think that's what we see in this word map.
Albert Einstein Quotations:
A man should look for what is, and not
for what he thinks should be. |
A perfection of means, and confusion of
aims, seems to be our main problem. |
A person who never made a mistake never
tried anything new. |
A question that sometimes drives me hazy:
am I or are the others crazy? |
A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a
violin; what else does a man need to be happy? |
All religions, arts and sciences are
branches of the same tree. |
All that is valuable in human society
depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual. |
All these primary impulses, not easily
described in words, are the springs of man's actions. |
An empty stomach is not a good political
adviser. |
Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.
|
Any fool can make things bigger, more
complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage
- to move in the opposite direction. |
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. |
Any man who can drive safely while
kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it
deserves. |
Any man who reads too much and uses his
own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. |
Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously
in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either. |
Anyone who has never made a mistake has
never tried anything new. |
As far as I'm concerned, I prefer silent
vice to ostentatious virtue. |
As far as the laws of mathematics refer
to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not
refer to reality. |
Before God we are all equally wise - and
equally foolish. |
Common sense is the collection of
prejudices acquired by age eighteen. |
Concern for man and his fate must always
form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the
midst of your diagrams and equations. |
Confusion of goals and perfection of
means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age. |
Do not worry about your difficulties in
Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater. |
Education is what remains after one has
forgotten what one has learned in school. |
Everyone should be respected as an
individual, but no one idolized. |
Everything should be as simple as it is,
but not simpler. |
Everything should be made as simple as
possible, but not simpler. |
Everything that can be counted does not
necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.
|
Few are those who see with their own eyes
and feel with their own hearts. |
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. |
Force always attracts men of low
morality. |
God always takes the simplest way.
|
God does not play dice. |
God may be subtle, but he isn't plain
mean. |
Gravitation is not responsible for people
falling in love. |
Great spirits have always encountered
violent opposition from mediocre minds. |
He who can no longer pause to wonder and
stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. |
He who joyfully marches 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. |
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. |
Heroism on command, senseless violence,
and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how
passionately I hate them! |
Human beings must have action; and they
will make it if they cannot find it. |
I am a deeply religious nonbeliever -
this is a somewhat new kind of religion. |
I am enough of an artist to draw freely
upon my imagination. |
I am enough of an artist to draw freely
upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge
is limited. Imagination encircles the world. |
I am not only a pacifist but a militant
pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the
people themselves refuse to go to war. |
I believe that a simple and unassuming
manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
|
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and
punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human
frailty. |
I do not believe in immortality of the
individual, and I consider ethics to be an exclusively human concern with no
superhuman authority behind it. |
I do not believe in the God of theology
who rewards good and punishes evil. |
I do not believe that civilization will
be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the
people of the earth will be killed. |
I have just got a new theory of eternity.
|
I have no special talent. I am only
passionately curious. |
I know not with what weapons World War
III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
|
I live in that solitude which is painful
in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity. |
I never think of the future - it comes
soon enough. |
I shall never believe that God plays dice
with the world. |
I think and think for months and years.
Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
|
I used to go away for weeks in a state of
confusion. |
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the
rest are just details. |
If people are good only because they fear
punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. |
If the facts don't fit the theory, change
the facts. |
If we knew what it was we were doing, it
would not be called research, would it? |
If you are out to describe the truth,
leave elegance to the tailor. |
If you can't explain it simply, you don't
understand it well enough. |
Imagination is everything. It is the
preview of life's coming attractions. |
Imagination is more important than
knowledge. |
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. |
In order to be an immaculate member of a
flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself. |
Information is not knowledge. |
Insanity: doing the same thing over and
over again and expecting different results. |
Intellectual growth should commence at
birth and cease only at death. |
Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses
prevent them. |
Isn't it strange that I who have written
only unpopular books should be such a popular fellow? |
It gives me great pleasure indeed to see
the stubbornness of an incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed. |
It has become appallingly obvious that
our technology has exceeded our humanity. |
It is a miracle that curiosity survives
formal education. |
It is my conviction that killing under
the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. |
It is only to the individual that a soul
is given. |
It is strange to be known so universally
and yet to be so lonely. |
It is the supreme art of the teacher to
awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. |
It should be possible to explain the laws
of physics to a barmaid. |
It stands to the everlasting credit of
science that by acting on the human mind it has overcome man's insecurity
before himself and before nature. |
It was the experience of mystery - even
if mixed with fear - that engendered religion. |
It's not that I'm so smart, it's just
that I stay with problems longer. |
Joy in looking and comprehending is
nature's most beautiful gift. |
Knowledge of what is does not open the
door directly to what should be. |
Learn from yesterday, live for today,
hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. |
Let every man be respected as an
individual and no man idolized. |
Logic will get you from A to B.
Imagination will take you everywhere. |
Look deep into nature, and then you will
understand everything better. |
Love is a better teacher than duty.
|
Make everything as simple as possible,
but not simpler. |
Memory is deceptive because it is colored
by today's events. |
Morality is of the highest importance -
but for us, not for God. |
Most of the fundamental ideas of science
are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language
comprehensible to everyone. |
Most people say that is it is the
intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
|
My religion consists of a humble
admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the
slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
|
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It
is the measles of mankind. |
Nationalism is an infantile sickness. It
is the measles of the human race. |
Never do anything against conscience even
if the state demands it. |
Never lose a holy curiosity. |
No amount of experimentation can ever
prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong. |
No problem can be solved from the same
level of consciousness that created it. |
Not everything that can be counted
counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. |
Nothing is more destructive of respect
for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be
enforced. |
Occurrences in this domain are beyond the
reach of exact prediction because of the variety of factors in operation, not
because of any lack of order in nature. |
Once we accept our limits, we go beyond
them. |
One may say the eternal mystery of the
world is its comprehensibility. |
One strength of the communist system of
the East is that it has some of the character of a religion and inspires the
emotions of a religion. |
Only a life lived for others is a life
worthwhile. |
Only one who devotes himself to a cause
with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason
mastery demands all of a person. |
Only two things are infinite, the
universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. |
Our task must be to free ourselves by
widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the
whole of nature and its beauty. |
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can
only be achieved by understanding. |
People love chopping wood. In this
activity one immediately sees results. |
Perfection of means and confusion of ends
seem to characterize our age. |
Politics is for the present, but an
equation is for eternity. |
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the
poetry of logical ideas. |
Reading , after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. |
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a
very persistent one. |
Science is a wonderful thing if one does
not have to earn one's living at it. |
Science without religion is lame,
religion without science is blind. |
Small is the number of people who see
with their eyes and think with their minds. |
Solitude is painful when one is young,
but delightful when one is more mature. |
Sometimes one pays most for the things
one gets for nothing. |
Strive not to be a success, but rather to
be of value. |
Technological progress is like an axe in
the hands of a pathological criminal. |
That deep emotional conviction of the
presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the
incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God. |
The attempt to combine wisdom and power
has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while. |
The devil has put a penalty on all things
we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get
fat. |
The difference between stupidity and
genius is that genius has its limits. |
The distinction between the past, present
and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. |
The environment is everything that isn't
me. |
The faster you go, the shorter you are.
|
The fear of death is the most unjustified
of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead. |
The gift of fantasy has meant more to me
than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge. |
The grand aim of all science is to cover
the greatest number of empirical facts by logical deduction from the smallest
number of hypotheses or axioms. |
The hardest thing to understand in the
world is the income tax. |
The high destiny of the individual is to
serve rather than to rule. |
The important thing is not to stop
questioning. |
The important thing is not to stop
questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. |
The man of science is a poor philosopher.
|
The monotony and solitude of a quiet life
stimulates the creative mind. |
The most beautiful thing we can
experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
|
The most incomprehensible thing about the
world is that it is comprehensible. |
The only real valuable thing is
intuition. |
The only reason for time is so that
everything doesn't happen at once. |
The only source of knowledge is
experience. |
The only thing that interferes with my
learning is my education. |
The process of scientific discovery is,
in effect, a continual flight from wonder. |
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a
sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our
lives. |
The release of atomic energy has not
created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of
solving an existing one. |
The road to perdition has ever been
accompanied by lip service to an ideal. |
The secret to creativity is knowing how
to hide your sources. |
The true sign of intelligence is not
knowledge but imagination. |
The unleashed power of the atom has
changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward
unparalleled catastrophe. |
The value of a man should be seen in what
he gives and not in what he is able to receive. |
The whole of science is nothing more than
a refinement of everyday thinking. |
The world is a dangerous place to live;
not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't
do anything about it. |
The world is a dangerous place, not
because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do
nothing. |
The world is not dangerous because of
those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.
|
There are two ways to live: you can live
as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.
|
There comes a time when the mind takes a
higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there. |
There could be no fairer destiny for any
physical theory than that it should point the way to a more comprehensive
theory in which it lives on as a limiting case. |
There is no logical way to the discovery
of these elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped
by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance. |
Things should be made as simple as
possible, but not any simpler. |
To raise new questions, new
possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative
imagination and marks real advance in science. |
To the Master's honor all must turn, each
in its track, without a sound, forever tracing Newton 's ground. |
Too many of us look upon Americans as
dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly
by the Americans themselves. |
True art is characterized by an
irresistible urge in the creative artist. |
True religion is real living; living with
all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness. |
Try not to become a man of success, but
rather try to become a man of value. |
Two things are infinite: the universe and
human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. |
We cannot despair of humanity, since we
ourselves are human beings. |
We cannot solve our problems with the
same thinking we used when we created them. |
We can't solve problems by using the same
kind of thinking we used when we created them. |
We shall require a substantially new
manner of thinking if mankind is to survive. |
We should take care not to make the
intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
|
We still do not know one thousandth of
one percent of what nature has revealed to us. |
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of
character. |
When I examine myself and my methods of
thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to
me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking. |
When the solution is simple, God is
answering. |
When you are courting a nice girl an hour
seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an
hour. That's relativity. |
Whoever is careless with the truth in
small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. |
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a
judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
|
Without deep reflection one knows from
daily life that one exists for other people. |
You ask me if I keep a notebook to record
my great ideas. I've only ever had one. |
You can never solve a problem on the
level on which it was created. |
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