The twentieth century’s greatest rock star scientist said a lot of memorable things; he’s so venerated that when people want to make a point, they call on Einstein for backup. If they can’t find an apt quote they make one up; or they use someone else’s words and claim Einstein said it.
So here are some things Einstein never actually said, but people have claimed he said.
You’ll find these quotes crop up repeatedly in internet forums, in social media, in self-help gurus’ advice, etc.
Misattributed Einstein Quotes
Mind & Knowledge
“If you can’t explain something to a six-year-old, you really don’t understand it yourself.”
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.”
“If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.”
“The mind that opens to a new idea never comes back to its original size.”
“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind then what are we to think of an empty desk?”
“Education is that which remains, if one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”
Regarding the final quote, Einstein wrote that a ‘wit’ had once said this.
Science & Technology
If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination… no more men!
Nuclear power is a hell of a way to boil water.
Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. On the other hand, a well-trained operator as compared with a computer is incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant.
Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
And a quote from a reader’s comment on our article about the 10 greatest physicists:
Please, someone ask me about who is smartest, so that I may heap praise upon Nikola Tesla. I believe that someday he will be worshipped as a philosopher-king genius, despite any real evidence to support that view. A properly attributed quote from me will surely set this right.
Philosophy & General
Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Any intelligent 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.
Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.
Evil is the absence of God.
The most important decision we can make is whether this is a friendly or hostile universe. From that one decision all others spring.
Astrology is a science in itself and contains an illuminating body of knowledge. It taught me many things, and I am greatly indebted to it. Geophysical evidence reveals the power of the stars and the planets in relation to the terrestrial. In turn, astrology reinforces this power to some extent. This is why astrology is like a life-giving elixir to mankind.
The search for truth is more precious than its possession.
Actually first said by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Example is not the main thing. It is the only thing.
Actually first said by Albert Schweitzer.
We’ll end with something Einstein actually did say:
“People who fail to regard the truth seriously in small matters, cannot be trusted in matters that are great.”
I came across this website while researching this piece, and you can pursue most of the above misquotes in greater depth there.
Author of this page: The Doc
Images of scientists digitally enhanced and colorized by this website.
© All rights reserved.
Nice collection, The Doc.
I’d add:
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
(https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Misattributed)
“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.”
(https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Disputed)
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
(https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/07/28/genius/)
“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.”
(https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein#Disputed)
People attribute all sorts of things to Albert Einstein, including the rule of 72 in Finance, which is that dividing the interest rate by 72 gives the number of years it takes at that interest for a sum of money to double.
I attribute all these spurious quotes to “Arnold Einstein of Des Moines, Iowa.
It makes me feel better, at least.
What’s up Doc?
Good article. I just wanted to mention that the last quote you posted of something Einstein actually said paraphrases something from the New Testament.
Just goes to show you that wisdom is older than the words that carry it…
All well and good to highlight mis-attribution, but how exactly do you go about certifying what any given person *didn’t* ever say?… Do you have proper attribution for some or all of these?
Thanks for asking.
I agree that it’s impossible to prove that someone never said something.
If an author quotes Einstein or anyone else, the onus is on the author to cite the quote’s source.
The quotes I’ve listed above can’t be sourced to anything Einstein ever wrote or said.
To add to The Doc’s reply, as a fellow skeptic and curious reader I spent several hours following the rabbit-hole that sprouted from the article’s final comment: “I came across this website while researching this piece, and you can pursue most of the above misquotes in greater depth there.”
Indeed, the website mentioned is well-researched and attributed. If you’re interested and didn’t see the link try copying and pasting this in your browser:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/tag/albert-einstein
Happy Hunting! 🔎
this is good thanks for help
While Albert Einstein was not the first to say, “The search for truth is more precious than its possession,” a quote attributed to Lessing, if I recall correctly, he was impressed by this quote.
Thanks, now I know that Einstein never said those things. That was really helpful.
Re: Becka
I found this website while searching for quotes to back up an argument.
It was very useful: saved me from making a horse’s ass of myself.
Ned