In almost all lists of the most famous or influential people of all times, Albert Einstein is among the top 10. He was the most influential physicist of the 20th century, and is probably the most famous scientist to have ever lived. He is particularly famous for his ground-breaking special theory of relativity and his famous equation, E = mc², which maintain that matter can be changed into energy. Since the time of Isaac Newton, no scientist had so profoundly changed our understanding of the universe.
For his contributions, Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. He moved to the United States in 1933, because the Nazis were on the rise in his native Germany, and being a Jew, Einstein was in danger. In the United States he worked at Princeton University in New Jersey, where he became a central figure in the fight to restrict the use of the atom bomb, while also raising his voice against racism and nationalism.
Innovation Requires Work
Although the stories of him failing in math are apocryphal, Albert Einstein was not an exceptional student. Very few, if any, ever noticed anything exceptional about him when he was in school.
What made Einstein different was how long he was able to keep working on a problem in his mind. While certain genetic gifts may give people a head start, to accomplish anything of value, they still need to work diligently and intensely over a long period of time to develop their talent and be successful.
Top 52 Best Quotes
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” ― Albert Einstein
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ― Albert Einstein
“I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.” ― Albert Einstein
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” ― Albert Einstein
“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.” ― Albert Einstein
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
― Albert Einstein
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
― Albert Einstein
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”
― Albert Einstein
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
― Albert Einstein
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
― Albert Einstein
“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” ― Albert Einstein
“Never memorize something that you can look up.” ― Albert Einstein
“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.” ― Albert Einstein
“A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.” ― Albert Einstein
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” ― Albert Einstein
“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” ― Albert Einstein
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” ― Albert Einstein
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” ― Albert Einstein
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” ― Albert Einstein
“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. ― Albert Einstein
“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.” ― Albert Einstein
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” ― Albert Einstein
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” ― Albert Einstein
“You never fail until you stop trying.” ― Albert Einstein
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” ― Albert Einstein
“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” ― Albert Einstein
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ― Albert Einstein
“It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” ― Albert Einstein
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ― Albert Einstein
“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.” ― Albert Einstein
“If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut” ― Albert Einstein
“Black holes are where God divided by zero.” ― Albert Einstein
“Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.” ― Albert Einstein
“The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer somebody else up.” ― Albert Einstein
What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.” ― Albert Einstein
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” ― Albert Einstein
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” ― Albert Einstein
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” ― Albert Einstein
“The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” ― Albert Einstein
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” ― Albert Einstein
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” ― Albert Einstein
“Time is an illusion.” ― Albert Einstein
“I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be.” ― Albert Einstein
“It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure.” ― Albert Einstein
“Love is a better master than duty.” ― Albert Einstein
“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” ― Albert Einstein
“I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking” ― Albert Einstein
“We all know that light travels faster than sound. That’s why certain people appear bright until you hear them speak.” ― Albert Einstein
“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” ― Albert Einstein
“Genius is 1% talent and 99% percent hard work…” ― Albert Einstein
“I’d rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right.” ― Albert Einstein
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”― Albert Einstein
