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It's Not That Life Has Been Easy, Perfect Or Exactly As Expected. I Just Choose To Be Happy And Grateful No Matter How It All Turns Out. If People Are Good Only Because They Fear Punishment, And Hope For Reward, Then We Are A Sorry Lot Indeed.
-Albert Einstein
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It's Not That Life

Albert Einstein
It's Not That Life Has Been Easy, Perfect Or Exactly As Expected. I Just Choose To Be Happy And Grateful No Matter How It All Turns Out. If People Are Good Only Because They Fear Punishment, And Hope For Reward, Then We Are A Sorry Lot Indeed.
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Topic
Sorry
Grateful
Thoughtful
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Only In Mathematics And Physics Was I, Through Self-study, Far Beyond The School Curriculum, And Also With Regard To Philosophy As It Was Taught In The School Curriculum.
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Science Has Gone A Long Way Toward Helping Man To Free Himself From The Burden Of Hard Labor; Yet, Science Itself Is Not A Liberator. It Creates Means, Not Goals. It Is Up To Men To Utilize Those Means To Achieve Reasonable Goals.
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It Is A Precarious Undertaking To Say Anything Reliable About Aims And Intentions.
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I Hate Crowds And Making Speeches. I Hate Facing Cameras And Having To Answer To A Crossfire Of Questions. Why Popular Fancy Should Seize Upon Me, A Scientist, Dealing In Abstract Things And Happy If Left Alone, Is A Manifestation Of Mass Psychology That Is Beyond Me.
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Even The Scholars In Various Lands Have Been Acting As If Their Brains Had Been Amputated.
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The Goal Of Pacifism Is Possible Only Though A Supranational Organization. To Stand Unconditionally For This Cause Is The Criterion Of True Pacifism.
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There Will Come A Point In Everyone's Life , However, Where Only Intuition Can Make The Leap Ahead, Without Ever Knowing Precisely How. One Can Never Know Why But One Must Accept Intuition As A Fact.
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Strenuous Intellectual Work And The Study Of God's Nature Are The Angels That Will Lead Me Through All The Troubles Of This Life With Consolation, Strength, And Uncompromising Rigor.
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The Most Important Human Endeavor Is The Striving For Morality In Our Actions. Our Inner Balance And Even Our Very Existence Depend On It. Only Morality In Our Actions Can Give Beauty And Dignity To Life. To Make This A Living Force And Bring It To Clear Consciousness Is Perhaps The Foremost Task Of Education. The Foundation Of Morality Should Not Be Made Dependent On Myth Nor Tied To Any Authority Lest Doubt About The Myth Or About The Legitimacy Of The Authority Imperil The Foundation Of Sound Judgment And Action.
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A Man Has To Work So Hard So That Something Of His Personality Stays Alive. A Tomcat Has It So Easy, He Has Only To Spray And His Presence Is There For Years On Rainy Days.
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I Fully Agree With You About The Significance And Educational Value Of As Well As History And Philosophy Of Science. So Many People Today - And Even Professional - Seem To Me Like Someone Who Has Seen Thousands Of Trees But Has Never Seen A Forest. A Knowledge Of The Historic And Philosophical Background Gives That Kind Of Independence From Prejudices Of His Generation From Which Most Scientists Are Suffering. This Independence Created By Philosophical Insight Is - In My Opinion - The Mark Of Distinction Between A Mere Artisan Or Specialist And A Real Seeker After Truth.
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If The Bee Disappeared Off The Surface Of The Globe, Then Man Would Have Only Four Years Of Life Left. No More Bees, No More Pollination, No More Plants, No More Animals, No More Man.
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To My Mind, To Kill In War Is Not A Whit Better Than To Commit Ordinary Murder.
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Political Leaders Or Governments Owe Their Position Partly To Force And Partly To Popular Election. They Cannot Be Regarded As Representative Of Best Elements, Morally Or Intellectually, In Their Respective Nations.
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You Are Right In Speaking Of The Moral Foundations Of Science, But You Cannot Turn Around And Speak Of The Scientific Foundations Of Morality.
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Work Is The Only Thing I Do To Escape The Corruption Of Praise.
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Pure Mathematics Is, In Its Way, The Poetry Of Logical Ideas.
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I Assert That The Cosmic Religious Experience Is The Strongest And The Noblest Driving Force Behind Scientific Research.
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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 His Feelings As Something Separate From The Rest - A Kind Of Optical Delusion Of Consciousness.
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Our Death Is Not An End If We Can Live On In Our Children And The Younger Generation. For They Are Us; Our Bodies Are Only Wilted Leaves On The Tree Of Life.
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Humiliation And Mental Oppression By Ignorant And Selfish Teachers Wreak Havoc In The Youthful Mind That Can Never Be Undone And Often Exert A Baleful Influence In Later Life.
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I Want To Know How God Created This World. I Am Not Interested In This Or That Phenomenon, In The Spectrum Of This Or That Element. I Want To Know God's Thoughts, The Rest Are Details.
God
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The Physicist's Greatest Tool Is His Wastebasket.
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Engineering
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Physics Is An Attempt Conceptually To Grasp Reality As Something That Is Considered To Be Independent Of Its Being Observed. In This Sense One Speaks Of Physical Reality.
Independent
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If A Theory Can Not Be Explained To A Child, Then The Theory Is Probably Worthless.
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God Always Takes The Simplest Way.
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(reply On What Constitutes Scientific Proof:)"the Question Is Much Too Difficult For Me.
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Make Everything As Simple As Possible, But Not Simpler.
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Genius Abhors Consensus Because When Consensus Is Reached, Thinking Stops. Stop Nodding Your Head.
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The Ordinary Adult Never Gives A Thought To Space-time Problems ... I, On The Contrary, Developed So Slowly That I Did Not Begin To Wonder About Space And Time Until I Was An Adult. I Then Delved More Deeply Into The Problem Than Any Other Adult Or Child Would Have Done.
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I Do Not Believe In Free Will. Schopenhauer's Words: 'man Can Do What He Wants, But He Cannot Will What He Wills,' Accompany Me In All Situations Throughout My Life And Reconcile Me With The Actions Of Others, Even If They Are Rather Painful To Me. This Awareness Of The Lack Of Free Will Keeps Me From Taking Myself And My Fellow Men Too Seriously As Acting And Deciding Individuals, And From Losing My Temper.
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I Have Yet To Meet A Single Person From Our Culture, No Matter What His Or Her Educational Background, Iq, And Specific Training, Who Had Powerful Transpersonal Experiences And Continues To Subscribe To The Materialistic Monism Of Western Science.
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Culture In Its Higher Forms Is A Delicate Plant Which Depends On A Complicated Set Of Conditions And Is Wont To Flourish Only In A Few Places At Any Given Time.
Culture
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Bureaucracy Is The Death Of All Sound Work.
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To Invent Something, All You Need Is Imagination And A Big Pile Of Junk.
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Everything That Can Be Counted Does Not Necessarily Count; Everything That Counts Cannot Necessarily Be Counted.
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The Restriction Of Knowledge To An Elite Group Destroys The Spirit Of The Society And Leads To Its Intellectual Impoverishment.
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Groups
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Check Out Not To Become A Man Or Woman Of Achievement, But Instead Seek To Become A Particular Person Of Price.
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Anyone Who Doesn't Take Truth Seriously In Small Matters Cannot Be Trusted In Large Ones Either.
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Attitude
Book
Berlin Is The Place To Which I Am Most Closely Bound By Human And Scientific Ties.
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Berlin
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Science
Discovery
Taught Us
Nonsense, Seems To Sum Up Everything.
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Seems
There Comes A Point In Your Life When You Need To Stop Reading Other People's Books And Write Your Own.
Book
Reading
Writing
I Am Also Convinced That One Gains The Purest Joy From Spirited Things Only When They Are Not Tied In With Earning One's Livelihood.
Memorable
Joy
Earning
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Men
Philosopher
Poor
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Important
Friendly
Persons
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Inspirational
Spiritual
Country
Not All That Counts, Can Be Counted
A Woman Is Always Right. But Sometimes Confused Or May Be Misinformed Or Rude Or Stubborn Or Senseless Or Unchangeable About Her Opinions Or Even Down Right Stupid At Times But Never Wrong... She Is Always Right.
Confused
Stupid
Rude
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Science
Reality
Long
[freud's] Sense Of Reality Is Less Clouded By Wishful Thinking Than Is The Case With Other People And [he Combines] The Qualities Of Critical Judgment, Earnestness And Responsibility.
Responsibility
Reality
Thinking
I Love To Travel, But Hate To Arrive.
Travel
Hate
Journey
It Is Always Delightful When A Great And Beautiful Idea Proves To Be Consonant With Reality.
Beautiful
Reality
Ideas
If We Knew What It Was We Were Doing, It Would Not Be Called Research, Would It?
Love
Inspirational
Funny
Men Should Continue To Fight, But They Should Fight For Things Worth While, Not For Imaginary Geographical Lines, Racial Prejudices And Private Greed Draped In The Color's Of Patriotism.
Spiritual
Fighting
Men
Student Is Not A Container You Have To Fill But A Torch You Have To Light Up.
Inspirational
Spiritual
Light
Galileo - The Father Of Modern Physics - Indeed Of Modern Science.
Father
Physics
Modern
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Inspirational
Positive
Knowledge
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Inspirational
Life
Motivational
It Is An Outcome Of Faith That Nature-as She Is Perceptible To Our Five Senses-takes The Character Of Such A Well Formulated Puzzle.
Nature
Character
Five Senses
You Imagine That I Look Back On My Life's Work With Calm Satisfaction. But From Nearby It Looks Quite Different. There Is Not A Single Concept Of Which I Am Convinced That It Will Stand Firm, And I Feel Uncertain Whether I Am In General On The Right Track.
Track
Different
Looks
I Never Thought That Others Would Take My Theories So Much More Seriously Than I Did.
Math
Logic
Theory
Any Society Which Does Not Insist Upon Respect For All Life Must Necessarily Decay.
Animal
Doe
Decay
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Real
Believe
Inspiration
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God
Religious
Attitude
Time Is Not At All What It Seems. It Does Not Flow In Only One Direction, And The Future Exists Simultaneously With The Past.
Past
One Direction
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No One Does Anything Right In Life, Until They Realize That They Are Making A Mistake
Mistake
Making Mistakes
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This Change In The Conception Of Reality Is The Most Profound And The Most Fruitful That Physics Has Experienced Since The Time Of Newton. Refering To James Clerk Maxwell's Contributions To Physics.
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The Only Sure Way To Avoid Making Mistakes Is To Have No New Ideas.
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Mistake
Brief Is This Existence, As A Visit In A Strange House. The Path To Be Pursued Is Poorly Lit By A Flickering Consciousness.
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Path
Strange
The Only Way To Escape The Corruptible Effect Of Praise Is To Go On Working.
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Goes On
Way
I Can Understand Your Aversion To The Use Of The Term 'religion' To Describe An Emotional And Psychological Attitude Which Shows Itself Most Clearly In Spinoza... I Have Not Found A Better Expression Than 'religious' For The Trust In The Rational Nature Of Reality That Is, At Least To A Certain Extent, Accessible To Human Reason.
Religious
Attitude
Reality
You Can Never Solve A Problem On The Level On Which It Was Created. Insanity: Doing The Same Thing Over And Over Again And Expecting Different Results. A Life Lived For Others Is A Life Worthwhile.
Insanity
Different
Levels
I Should Very Much Like To Remain In The Darkness Of Not Having Been Analyzed.
Darkness
Should
From The Viewpoint Of A Jesuit Priest I Am, Of Course, And Have Always Been An Atheist.
Atheist
If There Is A God
Religion
A Religious Person Is Devout In The Sense That He Has No Doubt About The Significance Of Those Superpersonal Objects And Goals Which Neither Require Nor Are Capable Of Rational Foundation
Religious
Goal
Perception
The Indifference, Callousness And Contempt That So Many People Exhibit Toward Animals Is Evil First Because It Results In Great Suffering In Animals, And Second Because It Results In An Incalculably Great Impoverishment Of The Human Spirit.
Compassion
Animal
Vegetarianism
Whoever Undertakes To Set Himself Up As A Judge Of Truth And Knowledge Is Shipwrecked By The Laughter Of The Gods.
Love
Inspirational
Funny
Heroism On Command, Senseless Violence, And All The Loathsome Nonsense That Goes By The Name Of Patriotism - How Passionately I Hate Them!
Love
Inspirational
Life
Gravitation Is Not Responsible For People Falling In Love.
Love
Inspirational
Romantic
A Finely Tempered Nature Longs To Escape From The Personal Life Into The World Of Objective Perception And Thought.
Life
Wise
Nature
I Never Said Half The Crap People Said I Did.
People
Half
Said
Everyone Has Two Choices. We're Either Full Of Love... Or Full Of Fear.
Inspirational Love
Two
Choices
Honestly, I Cannot Understand What People Mean When They Talk About The Freedom Of The Human Will. I Have A Feeling, For Instance, That I Will Something Or Other; But What Relation This Has With Freedom I Cannot Understand At All. I Feel That I Will To Light My Pipe And I Do It; But How Can I Connect This Up With The Idea Of Freedom? What Is Behind The Act Of Willing To Light The Pipe ? Another Act Of Willing?
Mean
Men
Light
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Philosophical
Theory
Given
I Simply Imagine It So, Then Go About To Prove It.
Imagine
Prove It
Prove
To Know What Is Impenetrable To Us Really Exists, Manifesting Itself As The Highest Wisdom And The Most Radiant Beauty... This Knowledge, This Feeling Is At The Center Of True Religiousness.
Beauty
Wise
Knowledge
The Most Important Tool Of The Theoretical Physicist Is His Wastebasket.
Important
Tools
Physicist
To Punish Me For My Contempt For Authority, Fate Made Me An Authority Myself.
Inspirational
Leadership
Fate
I Believe That We Don't Need To Worry About What Happens After This Life, As Long As We Do Our Duty Here-to Love And To Serve.
Life
Believe
Worry
What Artistic And Scientific Experience Have In Common - Where The World Ceases To Be The Scene Of Our Personal Hopes And Wishes, Where We Face It As Free Beings Admiring, Asking, And Observing, There We Enter The Realm Of Art And Science. If What Is Seen And Experienced Is Portrayed In The Language Of Logic, We Are Engaged In Science. If It Is Communicated Through Forms Whose Connections Are Not Accessible To The Conscious Mind But Are Recognized Intuitively As Meaninful, Then We Are Engaged In Art. Common To Both Is The Loving Devotion To That Which Transcends Personal Concerns And Volition.
Art
Mind
Wish
I Am An Absolute Pacifist...it Is An Instinctive Feeling. It Is A Feeling That Possesses Me, Because The Murder Of Men Is Disgusting.
Men
Feelings
Insightful
Sometimes One Pays Most For The Things One Gets For Nothing.
Motivational
Inspiring
Interesting
Education Is What Is Left After You've Forgotten Everything You've Learned.
Forgotten
Left
How Vile And Despicable War Seems To Me! I Would Rather Be Hacked To Pieces Than Take Part In Such An Abominable Business.
Peace
War
Pieces
The Devil Craps On The Big Pile
Devil
Bigs
Crap
It Is Easy To Say Something New, If All Senses One Will Eschew. But Hardly Ever Is Found, That The New Is Also Sound.
Sound
Easy
Something New
I Have Never Looked Upon Ease And Happiness As Ends In Themselves - This Critical Basis I Call The Ideal Of A Pigsty. The Ideals That Have Lighted My Way, And Time After Time Have Given Me New Courage To Face Life Cheerfully, Have Been Kindness, Beauty, And Truth. Without The Sense Of Kinship With Men Of Like Mind, Without The Occupation With The Objective World, The Eternally Unattainable In The Field Of Art And Scientific Endeavors, Life Would Have Seemed Empty To Me. The Trite Objects Of Human Efforts - Possessions, Outward Success, Luxury - Have Always Seemed To Me Contemptible.
Art
Kindness
Men
Imagination Is More Valuable Than Information.
Imagination
Information
Valuable
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.
Inspirational
Spiritual
Children
This Topic Brings Me To That Worst Outcrop Of Herd Life, The Military System, Which I Abhor... 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!
Hate
Military
Civilization
[ernest Rutherford Is]...a Second Newton.
Newton
The True Definition Of Madness Is Repeating The Same Action, Over And Over, Hoping For A Different Result.
Different
Definitions
Action
There Is, However, One Other Human Right Which Is Infrequently Mentioned But Which Seems To Be Destined To Become Very Important: This Is The Right, Or The Duty, Of The Individual To Abstain From Cooperating In Activities Which He Considers Wrong Or Pernicious.
Important
Individual
Duty
Life Is A Preparation For The Future; And The Best Preparation For The Future Is To Live As If There Were None.
Inspirational
Life
Spiritual
Our Separation From Each Other Is An Optical Illusion.
Inspirational
Relationship
Spiritual
Never Underestimate Your Own Ignorance.
Business
Ignorance
Underestimate
The Process Of Scientific Discovery Is, In Effect, A Continual Flight From Wonder.
Love
Life
God
It Is Impossible To Get Anywhere Without Sinning Against Reason.
Impossible
Reason
Sinning
Not All Things Worth Counting Are Countable And Not All Things That Count Are Worth Counting.
Counting
All Things
I Do Not Share The Crusading Spirit Of The Professional Atheist Whose Fervor Is Mostly Due To A Painful Act Of Liberation From The Fetters Of Religious Indoctrination Received In Youth. I Prefer An Attitude Of Humility Corresponding To The Weakness Of Our Intellectual Understanding Of Nature And Of Our Own Being.
God
Religious
Atheist
Nothing Is More Destructive Of Respect For The Government And The Law Of The Land Than Passing Laws Which Cannot Be Enforced.
Love
Life
God
Condemnation Without Investigation Is The Height Of Ignorance
Ignorance
Character
Height
A Table, A Chair, A Bowl Of Fruit And A Violin; What Else Does A Man Need To Be Happy.
Inspirational
Happiness
Happy
One Has A Feeling That One Has A Kind Of Home In This Timeless Community Of Human Beings That Strive For Truth. ... I Have Always Believed That Jesus Meant By The Kingdom Of God The Small Group Scattered All Through Time Of Intellectually And Ethically Valuable People.
Jesus
Home
People
Politics Is A Pendulum Whose Swings Between Anarchy And Tyranny Are Fueled By Perennially Rejuvenated Illusions.
Swings
Politics
Anarchy
We Know Nothing At All. All Our Knowledge Is But The Knowledge Of Schoolchildren. The Real Nature Of Things We Shall Never Know.
Real
Knowledge
Thinking
The Individual Feels The Futility Of Human Desires And Aims And The Sublimity And Marvelous Order Which Reveal Themselves Both In Nature And In The World Of Thought.
Order
Desire
World
It Is The Same With People As It Is With Riding A Bike. Only When Moving Can One Comfortably Maintain One's Balance.
Moving
People
Balance
Pablo Casals Is A Very Great Artist. What I Admire Is The Firm Stand He Has Taken Not Only Against The Oppressors Of His Countrymen, But Also Against Those Opportunists Who Are Always Ready To Compromise With The Devil. He Perceives Clearly That The World Is In Greater Peril From Those Who Tolerate Or Encourage Evil Than From Those Who Actually Commit It.
Taken
Artist
Evil
It Almost Seems To Me That Man Was Not Born To Be A Carnivore.
Men
Vegetarianism
Vegan
I Do Not Like To State An Opinion On A Matter Unless I Know The Precise Facts.
Memorable
Matter
Facts
Warfare Cannot Be Humanized.
Warfare
I Have No Particular Talent. I Am Merely Inquisitive.
Curiosity
Talent
Inquisitive
If People Are Good Because They Fear Punishment, And Hope For Reward, Then We Are A Sorry Lot Indeed.
Im Sorry
Atheist
Fear
In The View Of Such Harmony In The Cosmos Which I, With My Limited Human Mind, Am Able To Recognize, There Are Yet People Who Says There Is No God. But What Makes Me Really Angry Is That They Quote Me For Support Of Such Views. (the Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University, Page 214)
Princeton University
Views
People
Through The Release Of Atomic Energy, Our Generation Has Brought Into The World The Most Revolutionary Force Since Prehistoric Man's Discovery Of Fire. This Basic Force Of The Universe Cannot Be Fitted Into The Outmoded Concept Of Narrow Nationalisms.
Men
Fire
Our Generation
The Strongest Force In The Universe Is Compound Interest.
Being Yourself
Being Real
I Love Myself
Stupidity Is A Personal Achievement Which Transcends National Boundaries.
Success
Achievement
Stupidity
Knowledge Exists In Two Forms - Lifeless, Stored In Books, And Alive, In The Consciousness Of Men. The Second Form Of Existence Is After All The Essential One; The First, Indispensable As It May Be, Occupies Only An Inferior Position.
Book
Men
Two
You Can't Blame Gravity For Falling In Love.
Love
Fall
Blame Someone
A Single Bomb Of This Type, Carried By Boat And Exploded In A Port, Might Very Well Destroy The Whole Port, Together With Some Of The Surrounding Territory.
Together
Bombs
Politics
Man, Surrounded By Facts, Permitting Himself No Surprise, No Intuitive Flash, No Great Hypothesis, No Risk, Is In A Locked Cell. Ignorance Cannot Seal The Mind And Imagination More Securely.
Ignorance
Men
Cells
If The Rabble Continues To Occupy Itself With You, Then Simply Don't Read That Hogwash, But Rather Leave It For The Reptile From Whom It Has Been Fabricated.
Hogwash
Reptiles
Has Beens
Be A Voice Not An Echo.
Life
Motivational
Dream
I Was Originally Supposed To Become An Engineer But The Thought Of Having To Expend My Creative Energy On Things That Make Practical Everyday Life Even More Refined, With A Loathsome Capital Gain As The Goal, Was Unbearable To Me.
Origin Of Life
Goal
Creative
I Didn't Arrive At My Understanding Of The Fundamental Laws Of The Universe Through My Rational Mind.
Inspirational
Life
Thinking
For Every One Billion Particles Of Antimatter There Were One Billion And One Particles Of Matter. And When The Mutual Annihilation Was Complete, One Billionth Remained - And That's Our Present Universe.
Science
Matter
Annihilation
You Can't Solve Your Problems By Using The Same Thinking That Got You Into Those Problems In The First Place.
Thinking
Firsts
Problem
This Is Too Difficult For A Mathematician. It Takes A Philosopher. The Hardest Thing In The World To Understand Is The Income Tax.
Income
World
Philosopher
Human Beings, Vegetables, Or Cosmic Dust, We All Dance To A Mysterious Tune, Intoned In The Distance By An Invisible Piper.
Life
Success
Dance
Personally, I Experience The Greatest Degree Of Pleasure In Having Contact With Works Of Art. They Furnish Me With Happy Feelings Of An Intensity That I Cannot Derive From Other Sources.
Happy
Art
Feelings
Man Can Find Meaning In Life Only Through Devoting Himself To Society.
Men
Meaning Of Life
Find Me
The Intellect Has Little To Do On The Road To Discovery. There Comes A Leap In Consciousness, Call It Intuition Or What You Will, The Solution Comes To You And You Don't Know How Or Why.
Science
Discovery
Intuition
The Important Thing Is To Never Stop Questioning. Never Lose A Holy Curiosity.
Curiosity
Important
Holy
[when Asked "dr. Einstein, Why Is It That When The Mind Of Man Has Stretched So Far As To Discover The Structure Of The Atom We Have Been Unable To Devise The Political Means To Keep The Atom From Destroying Us?"] That Is Simple, My Friend. It Is Because Politics Is More Difficult Than Physics.
Mean
Science
Men
Everyone Likes Me, Yet Nobody Understands Me.
Likes
Understand Me
Nobody Understands Me
Past Is Dead Future Is Uncertain; Present Is All You Have, So Eat, Drink And Live Merry.
Past
Drink
Uncertain
The Intuitive Mind Is A Sacred Gift.
Psychics
Gifts Of The Spirit
Faithful Servants
Every Serious Scientific Worker Is Painfully Conscious Of This Involuntary Relegation To An Ever-narrowing Sphere Of Knowledge, Which Threatens To Deprive The Investigator Of His Broad Horizon And Degrades Him To The Level Of A Mechanic.
Science
Horizon
Levels
It Seems To Me That The Idea Of A Personal God Is An Anthropological Concept Which I Cannot Take Seriously. I Feel Also Not Able To Imagine Some Will Or Goal Outside The Human Sphere. My Views Are Near Those Of Spinoza: Admiration For The Beauty Of And Belief In The Logical Simplicity Of The Order Which We Can Grasp Humbly And Only Imperfectly. I Believe That We Have To Content Ourselves With Our Imperfect Knowledge And Understanding And Treat Values And Moral Obligations As A Purely Human Problem-the Most Important Of All Human Problems.
Believe
Views
Order
How I Wish That Somewhere There Existed An Island For Those Who Are Wise And Of Good Will.
Inspirational
Wise
Spiritual
The Ideals Which Have Always Shone Before Me And Filled Me With The Joy Of Living Are Goodness, Beauty, And Truth. To Make A Goal Of Comfort Or Happiness Has Never Appealed To Me; A System Of Ethics Built On This Basis Would Be Sufficient Only For A Herd Of Cattle.
Goal
Interesting
Joy
Mankind Must Give Up War In The Atomic Era. What Is At Stake Is The Life Or Death Of Humanity.
Peace
Giving Up
War
A World Government With Powers Adequate To Guarantee Security Is Not A Remote Ideal For The Distant Future. It Is An Urgent Necessity If Our Civilization Is To Survive.
World Government
Law
Civilization
In The Past It Never Occurred To Me That Every Casual Remark Of Mine Would Be Snatched Up And Recorded. Otherwise I Would Have Crept Further Into My Shell.
Past
Would Be
Shells
Most Mistakes In Philosophy And Logic Occur Because The Human Mind Is Apt To Take The Symbol For The Reality.
Philosophy
Mistake
Reality
Intuitive Powers Played A Central Role In My Scientific Work, Not Wild Speculation, Yet A Valued Resource When No Other Approach Was Available.
Roles
Resources
Speculation
I Don't Know What Weapons Will Be Used In The Third World War. But I Can Tell You What They'll Use In The Fourth - Rocks!
War
Rocks
Use
The Emotional State That Leads To Achievements Resembles That Of A Worshiper Or The Lover.
Emotional
Achievement
Feelings
Thinking Like We (always) Have Is What Got Us Where We Are. It Is Not Going To Get Us Where We Are Going.
Thinking
The Most Important Human Endeavor Is The Striving For Morality In Our Actions.
Sports
Important
Our Actions
Nature Shows Us Only The Tail Of The Lion. But There Is No Doubt In My Mind That The Lion Belongs With It Even If He Cannot Reveal Himself To The Eye All At Once Because Of His Huge Dimension.
Nature
Eye
Doubt
When The Solution Is Simple, God Is Answering.
Love
Life
Positive
The Environment Is Everything That Isn't Me.
Love
Life
God
The Intuitive Mind Is A Sacred Gift And The Rational Mind Is A Faithful Servant. We Have Created A Society That Honors The Servant And Has Forgotten The Gift. We Will Not Solve The Problems Of The World From The Same Level Of Thinking We Were At When We Created Them. More Than Anything Else, This New Century Demands New Thinking: We Must Change Our Materially Based Analyses Of The World Around Us To Include Broader, More Multidimensional Perspectives.
Thinking
Faithful Servants
Perspective
I Appeal To All Men And Women, Whether They Be Eminent Or Humble, To Declare That They Will Refuse To Give Any Further Assistance To War Or The Preparation Of War.
War
Humble
Men
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


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