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7

“I cannot believe that God would choose to play dice with the universe.” (Albert Einstein)

- The Born-Einstein Letters (1971)
The direct quote is “I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice,” but Einstein often used variations of this quote and indeed spoke it differently to different parties.

20

“I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.” (Albert Einstein)

27

“Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do — but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it.” (Albert Einstein)

- As quoted in Albert Einstein, The Human Side: New Glimpses From His Archives (1979), pg. 56
Written by Einstein in the margin of a letter, written to him, in German.

28

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the the universe.” (Albert Einstein)

- The authenticity of this quote is disputed and no source before 1969 can be found, though this sentiment was certainly not expressed first by Einstein even if it was really spoken by him. Earlier variants include, “He quotes the saying of Renan: it isn’t the stars that give him an idea of infinity; it is man’s stupidity” and “But who knows? The earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is infinite!”

34

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world.” (Albert Einstein)

- Cosmic Religion : With Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931) pg. 97
The quote continues, “…stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.”

39

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is income taxes.” (Albert Einstein)

- Letter to Time Magazine (22 February 1963).
Einstein’s friend Leo Mattersdorf reported Einstein saying this, to which Mattersdorf replied, “There is one thing more difficult, and that is your theory of relativity.” Einstein responded, “Oh no, that is easy.”

40

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” (Albert Einstein)

- As quoted in And I Quote (2003) pg. 146

74

“Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.” (Albert Einstein)

- A Close Look at the World’s Greatest Thinker, American Magazine, (June 1930)
Einstein was interviewed by M. K. Wisehart for American magazine, and spoke the above quote, which continues, “just as the man who spends too much time in the theaters is apt to be content with living vicariously instead of living his own life.”

79

“I want to know [God's] thoughts, the rest are details.” (Albert Einstein)

- “A Talk with Einstein,” The Listener 54, (1955) pg. 370-371
In Einstein’s quest to understand the Creator’s rules for the universe, he frequently spoke on discovering the underlying principles of reality.

82

“Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one’s living at it.” (Albert Einstein)

- As quoted in Albert Einstein, The Human Side: New Glimpses From His Archives (1979) pg. 57
Written in a letter to a student, E. Holzapfel, in 1951.