Albert Einstein
‘It is a magnificent feeling to recognize the unity of a complex of phenomena which appear to be things quite apart from the direct visible truth.’
‘I have little patience with scientists who take a board of wood, look for its thinnest part, and drill a great number of holes where drilling is easy.’
‘Music has no effect on research work, but both are born of the same source and complement each other through the satisfaction they bestow.’
‘Once the validity of this mode of thought had been recognized, the final results appear almost simple; any intelligent undergraduate can understand them without much trouble. But the years of searching in the dark for a truth that one feels, but cannot express; the intense desire and the alternations of confidence and misgiving, until one breaks through to clarity and understanding, are only known to him who has himself experienced them.’
‘There are certain callings in our modern organization which entail such an isolated life without making a great claim on bodily and intellectual effort. I think of such occupations as the services in lighthouses and lightships. Would it not be possible to fill such places with young people who wish to think out scientific problems especially of a mathematical or philosophical nature? In this way, perhaps, a greater number of creative individuals could be given an opportunity for mental development than is possible at present. In these times of economic depression and political upheaval such considerations seem to be worth attention.’
‘I find my physical powers decreasing as I grow older. I find that I require more sleep now. I doubt if my mental capacity has diminished. I grasp things as quickly as I did when I was younger. My power, my particular ability, lies in visualizing the effects, consequences and possibilities, and the bearings on present thought of the discoveries of others. I grasp things in a broad way easily. I cannot do mathematical calculations easily. I do them not willing and not readily. Others perform these details better…’
