Albert Einstein

About Newton: Nature to him was an open book, whose letters he could read without effort.

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.

Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I assure you that mine are greater.

During a lecture: This has been done elegantly by Minkowski; but chalk is cheaper than grey matter, and we will do it as it comes.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

Only a life lived for others is worth living.

A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.  Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

The difference between what the most and the least learned people know is inexpressibly trivial in relation to that which is unknown.

He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once.