Albert Einstein

Date

1879–1955

Description

City of birth: Ulm
Country of birth: Germany
Field of activity: Culture — physics

More detail coming ...

Quotes

‘How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being or own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to sue to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. … This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in fours to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his brig brain by mistake; unprotected spinal marrow was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism — how passionately I hate them! How vile and despicable seems war to me! … 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. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.’

Author

Albert Einstein

Speaker

Albert Einstein

Title of the publication

Ideas and Opinions

Other contributors

n/a

Publisher (or journal name with vol. and number)

Three Rivers Press

City of publication

New York

Country of publication (modern nation-state equivalent)

United States of America

Publication date

1954

Location [pp. or web]

pp. 8-11

Original language

English

Genre

Book

Context

Originally published in Forum and Century, Vol. 84, pp. 193–94, 1931, the thirteenth in the Forum series, Living Philosophies.

‘Something there is that can refresh and revivify older people: joy in the activities of the younger generation — a joy, to be sure, that is clouded by dark forebodings in these unsettled times. And yet, as always, the springtime sun brings forth new life, and we may rejoice because of this new life and contribute to its unfolding; and Mozart remains as beautiful and tender as he always was and always will be. There is, after all, something eternal that lies beyond reach of the hand of fate and of all human delusions. And such eternals lie closer to an older person than to a younger one oscillating between fear and hope. For us, there remains the privilege of experiencing beauty and truth in their purest forms.’

Author

Albert Einstein

Speaker

Albert Einstein

Title of the publication

Albert Einstein, The Human Side: New Glimpses from His Archives

Other contributors

Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffmann, editors

Publisher (or journal name with vol. and number)

Princeton University Press

City of publication

Princeton

Country of publication (modern nation-state equivalent)

United States of America

Publication date

1979

Location [pp. or web]

p. 51

Original language

English

Genre

Book

Context

Letter to Queen Mother Elizabeth of Belgium (circa March 1936), written to her when she was depressed over the recent death of her husband and daughter-in-law The book was edited by Einstein’s long-time secretary Helen Dukas and collaborator Banesh Hoffmann, and was originally published to coincide with the celebration of the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein.

‘Personally, I experience the greatest degree of pleasure in having contact with works of art. They furnish me with happy feelings of intensity that I cannot derive from other sources.’

Author

Albert Einstein

Speaker

Albert Einstein

Title of the publication

Einstein the Searcher: original: Einstein: Insight into his World of Thought

Publisher (or journal name with vol. and number)

E.P Dutton; original: Hoffmann und Campe

City of publication

New York; original: Hamburg

Country of publication (modern nation-state equivalent)

USA; original: Germany

Publication date

1922, original: 1921

Location [pp. or web]

p. 184

Other location

https://archive.org/details/einsteinsearch00moszrich/page/n5/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/einsteineinblick00moszuoft/page/n8/mode/2up/search/Personally%2C+I+experience

Original language

German

Genre

Book

Context

The full title of the book was Einstein: Insights into his World of Thought — Commonly Understood Consideration of the Theory of Relativity and a New World System Developed from Discussions with Einstein by Alexander Moszkowski. Alexander Moszkowski (1851–1934) was a German satirist, writer and philosopher of Polish-Jewish descent.