Quotes to inspire and reflect

Ptolemy made a universe, which lasted 1400 years. Newton also made a universe, which

At the very end, when they said to him, we could try to operate on you as a last resort. He didn't want to be operated on. He said ‘I want to go when I am ready, and I will do it in an elegant way.’

If Einstein has stopped doing physics in the year 1925 and gone fishing, he would be just as beloved, just as great, and it would not have made a damn bit of difference.

He said he would be willing to subscribe to the idea to resist force with force. Because he said otherwise it's like trying to cure a sick tribe of people. You try to cure them, in a way it is too slow. By the time you cure them with pacifism, they're all dead. That's not very efficient.

He loved Jewish jokes. I have told him many, and the thing I wish most is that I would have a record in which I could capture Einstein's laughter when he heard a good Jewish joke. His laughter sounded something like the bark of a contented seal. It was a very strange sound.

He never forgave the Germans for what they had done. Never. On the other hand he was deeply rooted in the German culture. We always spoke German together, because that was the best way I could follow the nuance of his personality. German was the language in which he was free to modulate and to express himself.

Probably the only project he ever gave up on was me. He tried to give me advice, but he

Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein. “

A powerful searchlight of the human mind, piercing by its rays the darkness of the unknown, has suddenly been extinguished. The world has lost its foremost genius and the Jewish people its most illustrious son in the present generation.

He knew, as did Socrates, that we know nothing.

Anyone who advises Americans to keep secret information which they may have about spies and saboteurs is himself an enemy of America.

When something struck him as funny, his eyes twinkled merrily and he laughed with his whole being… He was ready for humor.

It is not ideal to be the wife of a genius. Your life does not belong to you. It seems to belong to everyone else. Nearly every minute of the day I give to my husband, and that means to the public.

You are the only sort of man in whose existence I see much hope for in this deplorable world.

I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share; it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.

I have finished my task here.

I feel like an egg, of which only the shell remains; at 75 years old, one can’t expect anything else. One should prepare a person for his death.

In one’s youth every person and every event appear to be unique. With age, one becomes much more aware that similar events recur. Later on, one is less often delighted or surprised, but also less disappointed.

I am content in my later years. I have kept my good humor and take neither myself nor the next person seriously.

Every reminiscence is colored by today’s being what it is, and therefore by a deceptive point of view.

I have firmly resolved to bite the dust, when my time comes, with a minimum of medical assistance, and up to then I will sin to my wicked heart’s content.

I want to be cremated so people won’t come to worship at my bones.

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

A man’s value to the community depends primarily on how far his feelings, thoughts, and actions are directed towards promoting the good of his fellows.

We have to do the best we are capable of. This is our sacred human responsibility.

The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

Fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most human actions.

A life directed chiefly toward the fulfillment of personal desires will sooner or later always lead to bitter disappointment.

It is difficult to say what truth is, but sometimes it is so easy to recognize a falsehood.

Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

Life is short, and the boulder against which one pushes with all one’s might moves from its spot only with long intermissions.

One is born into a herd of buffaloes and must be glad if one is not trampled underfoot before one’s time.

Autobiographies mostly arise out of narcissism or negative feelings toward others. Biographies from the pen of another person tend in their psychological traits to reflect the intellectual and spiritual nature of the writer more than that of the person portrayed.

I admit that thoughts influence the body.

When one looks at humankind today, one notices with regret that quantity does not make up for quality. If quantity could only substitute for quality, we would be in better circumstances now than was Ancient Greece.

It is better for people to be like the beasts… They should be more intuitive; they should not be too conscious of what they are doing while they are doing it.

Sometimes one pays most for things one gets for nothing.

Race is a fraud. All modern people are a conglomeration of so many ethnic mixtures that no pure race remains.

Homosexuality should not be punishable except to protect children.

Great men are simply men and are not to be considered from the point of view of nationality, nor should the environment in which they were brought up be taken into account.

Children don’t heed the life experiences of their parents, and nations ignore history. Bad lessons always have to be learned anew.

One should keep in mind that on average the moral qualities of people do not differ much from country to country.

Life is a great tapestry. The individual is only an insignificant thread in an immense and miraculous pattern.

I believe that all creatures who can have young ones together are very much the same.

The unified field theory has been put into retirement. It is so difficult to employ mathematically that I have not been able to verify it somehow, in spite of all my efforts. This state of affairs will no doubt last many more years, mostly because physicists have little understanding of logical-philosophical arguments.

The discovery of a nuclear chain reaction need not bring about the destruction of mankind any more than the discovery of matches.