## 9. MISCELLANY

#### Subsections

- 9. miscellany - general
- 9.1 poetry
- 9.2 Einstein quotes
- 9.3 other quotes
- 9.4 terms and definitions
- 9.5 The Nerd test and other tests.
- 9.6 Murphy's law
- 9.7 proof methods

### 9.2 EINSTEIN QUOTES

Index | Comments and Contributions | previous page

Special Category: Albert Einstein

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    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.
            -- Einstein to his biographer Carl Seelig (October 25, 1953)

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                              Why Einstein if famous:
    When a blind beetle crawls over the surface of a curved branch, it doesn't
    notice that the track it has covered is indeed curved.  I was lucky enough
    to notice what the beetle didn't notice.
            -- Einstein, in answer to his son Eduard's question why he is so
            famous, 1922

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    With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common
    phenomenon.
            -- Albert Einstein (to Heinrich Zanger, Dec 1919)

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    Just as with the man in the fairy tale who turned everything he touched
    into gold, with me everything is turned into newspaper clamor.
            -- Albert Einstein (to Max Born, Sep 9, 1920)

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    From: Dr. Stuart Savory savory.pad@sni.de / savory.pad@sni-usa.com

     "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research,
    would it?".

     -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) [German physicist]

physics
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    From: kitchse@mail.auburn.edu (Susan E Kitchens)

    "Gravitation can not be held resposible for people falling in love"
                    -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) [German physicist]

physics
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    From: sdnaik@iastate.edu
     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 Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
      -- Albert Einstein

physics
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    From: Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite)

    Here are some more Einstein quotes:

    When asked how World War III would be fought, Einstein replied that he
    didn't know. But he knew how World War IV would be fought: With sticks and
    stones!

    "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour.
     Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.
     THAT'S relativity."

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

     Einstein, Albert (1879-1955) *
       Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
     _Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium_ (1941) ch. 13

physics
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    Special Category: Albert Einstein

    If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I
    would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather
    choose to be a plumber or a peddler in the hope to find that modest degree
    of independence still available under present circumstances.
     -- Albert Einstein, The Reporter, November 18 1954

    From: boba@wwa.com (Bob Allison)

                        :<!!:
                  ..:::tNi@Nin!+: :::xr
                '!)Q$$i@$$$$NNidbo@Ni8ir   If I had my life to live over again,
                .s:S9$$TR$$RX*###RB$$$$i:x   I'd be a plumber.
              x+RRX88$$$NL#?!< :<?#RR$$$bX
             !MN*#M#*BRR#$iXxi@NUX!MN$$$$$:
            <x@T!M!::(R8H@$$$$$$$$$xX$$$$$#=                     ____ ____
            x8W$Ui@!~!XMMM9M8RRRRBMMM!T5$$.                     (((((()))))
           .N$$$$M<<<~!#MXMHM8N$$$RMR<9R$$$N!.                      | |
           XQ$$$M!<:::sxXU!?MTT222#MM<?M$$$$~!             _________|_|_______
           9$$NMMf<!!~`"!Rk:X!"""#*N!:~!T5$$ !         ,ad88888888888888888888
           "R(#MF `<      "!!~     ~<9XN#$$XX<:       d88888888888888888888888
            "%/9" x~       :L       XH?R?M$$$x%      d888P'
             xi/ ~M:u::~  <8$>x<:<uuUF<~*"<?$!~      8888'
            X3$M::#M$$R::d<$$k9bxH$$$f4r o<<Ri      [____]
           '!8$N!!X6?M&i$#<$$Rt8$NMR9%!!'$:<?$!         &
             #R?<:~B:M$$~ 4$$H~"$$XM$~ ~HRtxH#
          +++x$!:<'$!@$!.  ""!:.#$M8# ~<!@!M?::         &
          -<!#\x~:.?<M~ <<::;;>> ?%$xx!:i:`MHbLX
           :*:!!:nM.~!~`<<! <`~" d<?9$NHRNi!?$$$eu.
           ` `xH9$MN.      '~~:. ?:x$$$!$$$xd$$$$$f
            :@$R?R?$$ex  .xuux9$  WM$$$M$$(W$$$$$$f
          .oX"#MMX!!R$$b ~"##**".d$f?RRX$PW$$$$$$$f
        .u$$$$iXMMnWU7T#@s.     @$$kX$$$RN$$$$$$$$f  -Bob Allison-
       .@$$$$$$NK9*MR$$N86Q:.. x$T88$R#8$$$$$$$$$$f
      x$$$$$$$$$$@iX#M@$$$$$$$N$$$$$#X@$$$$$$$$$$$f               _        _
     d$$$$$$$$$$$kM$$$NN868RRRRRRR5b@$$$$$$$$$$$$$f              / |      | \
    '$$$$$$$$$$$$$!M$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!             [  |      |  ]
                                                                [  |      |  ]
     ,-----------------------------------------WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW[  ]WWWWWW[  ]
    |  ()    ===================================================[//]======[  ]
    `-----------------------------------------------------------[__]------[__]
                                                       -cfbd-

    The plumber Stanley Murray replied to this: "Since my ambition has always
    been to be a scholar and yours seems to be a plumber, I suggest that as a
    team we would be tremendously successful.  We can then be possessed of
    both knowledge and independence.

physics
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    From: throopw@sheol.org (Wayne Throop)
    Special Category: Albert Einstein
    Special Category: Niels Bohr
    Special Category: Stephen Hawking

    traditional paraphrase sequence:

    "God does not play dice with the universe."  -- Einstein

    "Who are you to tell God what to do?"  -- Bohr

    "God not only plays dice, but sometimes throws them where they cannot be
    seen."  -- Hawking

    From: "David C. Kifer" <dkifer@sky-access.com>
    I cannot believe that God plays dice with the cosmos.  -- Albert Einstein,
    in _Observer_, 1954 [or]
    Jedenfalls bin ich überzeugt, dass _der_ nicht würfelt. [At any rate, I am
    convinced that _He_ [God] does not play dice.]  ---Einstein, Letter to Max
    Born, 4 December 1926 in _Einstein und Born Briefwechsel_ (1969) p. 130

    God plays dice with the universe, but they're loaded dice."  -- Joseph
    Ford, physicist; personal quote acknowledged in "CHAOS; Making a New
    Science," James Gleick; Viking Penguin Inc, NY; 1987 (p314)

    It seems certain that Einstein was doubly wrong when he said "God does not
    play dice." Consideration of particle emission from black holes would seem
    to suggest that God not only plays dice but also sometimes throws them
    where they cannot be seen.  -- Dr Stephen W. Hawking, NATURE, 1975 [no
    article by Hawking in Nature that year, but mentioned thus: Specifically,
    it is in Nature 257 (October 2, 1975), 352, an account of a conference
    written by Malcolm MacCallum.  The account begins "God not only plays dice.
    He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen" This statement
    is made by S. W. Hawking (Cambridge University) in his recent work on black
    holes...  The reference seems to be to two preprints circulated by Hawking.
    [also found in] Hawking concluded by reminding us that Albert Einstein once
    said "God does not play dice with the universe."  "On the contrary,"
    Hawking said, "it appears that not only does God play dice, but also that
    he sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen."  --Jerry
    Pournelle, _Galaxy_ magazine article reporting on Hawking lecture at Cal
    Tech, October 1975, collected in the book _A Step Farther Out_ by Jerry
    Pournelle, cr. 1979

    God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His
    own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of the players,
    (ie everybody), to being involved in an obscure and complex version of
    poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a
    Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.
     -- "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

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    From: AXYG58A@prodigy.com (Kristian Jungen)
    My favorite from Einstein

    (forgive me if I paraphrase slightly:) Einstein was listening to a student
    of his when he stated: "Do not trouble me with your concerns with
    Mathematics.  I assure you, mine are greater."

    From: Joachim
    It is probably this:
    To junior high school student Barbara Wilson, January 7, 1943:
    Do not worry about difficulties in mathematics; I can assure you that mine
    are still greater.

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    From: goble@infonaut.com (Clark Goble)

    Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure
    about the the universe. -- Albert Einstein

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    From: jr3000@aol.com (JR3000)

     "The must incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is
    comprehensible." --Albert Einstein

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    From: Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite)
     Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.
     - Albert Einstein

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    From: Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite)
     "Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival
    of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet"

    According to Alice Calaprice in the expanded quotable Einstein this is
    probably not by  Albert Einstein (- comment by Joachim)

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    From: sue@dnai.com (Sue Reinhold)

    "You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your
    grandmother." - Albert Einstein

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    From: kharris@ozonline.com.au (Kevin Harris)

     Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

    I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details.

    Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

    Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at
    it.

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

    God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates
    empirically.

    One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations,
    whether one liked it or not.  This coercion had such a deterring effect on
    me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the
    consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire
    year.

    ...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape
    from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from
    the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires.  A finely tempered nature
    longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective
    perception and thought.

    You're aware the boy failed my grade school math class, I take it?  And not
    that many years later he's teaching college.  Now I ask you: Is that the
    sorriest indictment of the American educational system you ever heard?
    [pauses to light cigarette.]  No aptitude at all for long division, but
    never mind.  It's him they ask to split the atom.  How he talked his way
    into the Nobel prize is beyond me.  But then, I suppose it's like the man
    says, "It's not what you know..."  Karl Arbeiter: former teacher of Albert
    Einstein

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    From: ncmtbiker@aol.com (Eric Karp)

    I never thought that others would take them so much more seriously then I
    did. - Albert Einstein about his theories

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    From: tdelling@eehpx13.cen.uiuc.edu (Timothy M Dellinger)

     It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
        -Albert Einstein

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    From: fcbaer@shentel.net (FRANK)
    Subject: FRANK's Quotations for Mar 14

    from Albert Einstein

    FRANK's Quotations for Mar 14 from Albert Einstein

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

    Reflecting quote: I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine
    times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.

    Adopting quote: A theory can be proved by experiment; but no path leads
    from experiment to the birth of a theory.

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

    Knuckling Down Quote: Try not to become a man of success but rather try to
    become a man of value.

    % Albert Einstein (1879-1955) born on March 14 Swiss-German-U.S. physicist;
    His theories of relativity revolutionized physics; famous for E = MC
    squared; won Nobel Prize, 1921.

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    From: John Beaderstadt <beady@together.org> Date: 1999/04/13

    "I tried to imagine the easiest way God could have done it."
      --Albert Einstein

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    Special Category: Albert Einstein
    I believe that every true theorist is a kind of tamed metaphysicist, no
    matter how pure  a "positivist" he may fancy himsself to be.
           -- Albert Einstein [On the generalized theory of Gravitation,
           Scientific American 182.4 (April 1954)

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    The dog is very smart.  He feels sorry for me because I receive so much
    mail; that's why he tries to byte the mailman.
          -- Albert Einstein, regarding his dog Chico. [quoted in Ehlers,
          Liebes Hertz!]

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    From: Jesper Skovhus Thomsen <jesper@jst1.anat.au.dk> "If the facts don't
    fit the theory, change the facts."  -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) (Alice
    Calaprice puts this in "The Expanded Quotable Einstein" in the section
    "Probably not by Einstein" - Joachim)

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    Special Category: Famous last words

    From: Ian Ellis <ian@iglou.com>

    Q. What were Einstein's last words?

    A. No-one knows!
       Albert Einstein's last words were spoken in German. The only other
    person in the room was a nurse who didn't speak or understand German, so
    Einstein's "last words" remain a mystery.
       [source "Poor Charlie's Almanacİ" by Charles Suitt] More from Einstein
    in the physics section

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    He [Albert Einstein] has a quiet way of walking, as if he is afraid of
    alarming the truth and frightening it away.

      -- The Japanese cartoonist Ippei Okamoto on Einstein's visit to Japan,
         1922 [Einstein Archive 36]

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    Nobody in *football* should be called a genius.  A genius is a guy like
    Norman Einstein.
           -- Football commentator and former player Joe Theisman.

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    During our crossing, Einstein explained his theory to me every day, and by
    the time we arrived I was fully convinced he understood it.
        -- Chaim Weizmann, 1921 after he escorted Einstein to the United
         States.

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    Einstein's [violin] playing is excellent, but he does not deserve his world
    fame; there are many others just as good.
          -- A Berlin music critic on an early 1920s performance, unaware that
         Einstein's fame did not derived from music.

next page | Index | Comments and Contributions

#### Subsections

- 9. miscellany - general
- 9.1 poetry
- 9.2 Einstein quotes
- 9.3 other quotes
- 9.4 terms and definitions
- 9.5 The Nerd test and other tests.
- 9.6 Murphy's law
- 9.7 proof methods

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