A clever person solves a problem, A wise person avoids it.

Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.

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.

Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work of many generations. All this is put in your hands as your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honor it, add to it, and one day faithfully hand it on to your children.

Beneath the effort directed towards the accumulation of worldly goods lies all too frequently the illusion that this is the most substantial and desirable end to be achieved; but there is, fortunately, a minority composed of those who recognize early in their lives that the most beautiful and satisfying experiences open to humankind are not derived from the outside, but are bound up with the development of the individual's own feeling, thinking and acting. The genuine artists, investigators and thinkers have always been persons of this kind. However inconspicuously the life of these individuals runs its course, none the less the fruits of their endeavors are the most valuable contributions which one generation can make to its successors.

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

For an idea that does not at first seem insane, there is no hope.

How can it be that mathematics, being after all a product of human thought independent of experience, is so admirably adapted to the objects of reality?

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.

I don't believe in mathematics.

If it is certain, it is not physics.
If it is physics, it is not certain.

If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor.

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over -- and expecting different results.

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

Let every man be respected as an individual, and no man idolized.

Man usually avoids attributing cleverness to somebody else -- unless it is an enemy.

Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count.

Most men revere words they cannot understand and consider a writer whom they can understand to be superficial.

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

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.

Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.

The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts.

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits

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

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.

The majority of the stupid is invincible and guaranteed for all time. The terror of their tyranny, however, is alleviated by their lack of consistency.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

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.

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

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.

Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.

To punish me for my contempt of authority, fate has made me an authority myself.

Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.

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.

You ask me if I keep a notebook to record my great ideas. I've only ever had one.

You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.