Great Throughts Treasury

"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings. "

"I believe in standardizing automobiles, not human beings. "

"I believe my theory of relativity to be true. But it will only be proved for certain in 1981, when I am dead."

"I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind."

"I believe that Gandhi’s views were the most enlightened of all the political men in our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit: not to use violence in fighting for our cause, but by non-participation in anything you believe is evil. "

"I came to America because of the great, great freedom which I heard existed in this country. I made a mistake in selecting America as a land of freedom, a mistake I cannot repair in the balance of my lifetime. "

"I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

"I cannot conceive of a great scientist without this profound faith: Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. "

"I cannot conceive of a personal God who would directly influence the actions of individuals, or would directly sit in judgment on creatures of his own creation. I cannot do this in spite of the fact that mechanistic causality has, to a certain extent, been placed in doubt by modern science. My religiosity consists in a humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit that reveals itself in the little that we, with our weak and transitory understanding, can comprehend of reality. Morality is of the highest importance — but for us, not for God."

"I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense… Schopenhauer’s saying, ‘A man can do what he wants, but not will what he wants,’ has been a very real inspiration to me since my youth; it has been a continual consolation in the face of life’s hardships, my own and others’, and an unfailing wellspring of tolerance. This realization mercifully mitigates the easily paralyzing sense of responsibility and prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it is conducive to a view of life which, in part, gives humor its due. "

"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 might be killed, but enough men capable of thinking, and enough books, would be left to start again, and civilization could be restored. "

"I do not teach anyone. I only provide the environment in which they can learn. "

"I don't pretend to understand the universe — it's much bigger than I am. "

"I don't try to imagine a personal God; it suffices to stand in awe at the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it. "

"I hate crowds and making speeches. I hate facing cameras and having to answer to a crossfire of questions. Why popular fancy should seize upon me, a scientist, dealing in abstract things and happy if left alone, is a manifestation of mass psychology that is beyond me. "

"I have always loved solitude, a trait which tends to increase with age."

"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. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible. "

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

"I like neither new clothes nor new kinds of food."

"I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity."

"I lived in solitude in the country and noticed how the monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind. "

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

"I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be."

"I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking. "

"I see my life in terms of music. "

"I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world."

"I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university."

"I take it to be true that pure thought can grasp the real, as the ancients had dreamed."

"I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right."

"I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not accumulation of facts. "

"I was sitting in a chair in the patent office at Bern when all of a sudden a thought occurred to me: "If a person falls freely he will not feel his own weight." I was startled. This simple thought made a deep impression on me. It impelled me toward a theory of gravitation."

"I would not think that philosophy and reason themselves will be man's guide in the foreseeable future; however, they will remain the most beautiful sanctuary they have always been for the select few. "

"I'd rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right. "

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? "

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut. "

"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it."

"If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution. "

"If I were 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 do know that I get most joy in life out of my violin."

"If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity. "

"If I were to start taking care of my grooming, I would no longer be my own self ... so the hell with it... I will continue to be unconcerned about it, which surely has the advantage that I'm left in peace by many a fop who would otherwise come to see me. "

"If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances."

"If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it. "

"If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies."

"If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew."

"If one tries to navigate unknown waters one runs the risk of shipwreck. "

"If something is in me which can be called religious, then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. "

"If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live. "

"If the believers of the present-day religions would earnestly try to think and act in the spirit of the founders of these religions then no hostility on the basis of religion would exist among the followers of the different faiths. Even the conflicts and the realm of religion would be exposed as insignificant."

"If the workers of this world, men and women, decide not to manufacture and transport ammunition, it would end war for all time. We must do that. Dedicate our lives to drying up the source of war; ammunition factories."

"If there is any religion that could respond to the needs of modern science, it would be Buddhism. "