# Reading > Who Said That? >  One of many by Einstein

## mono

I have had the following quote memorized for some time, and recently re-discovered its useful meaning, having an internal locus of control.

"The problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
Albert Einstein

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## mono

The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance, and even our very existence depends on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to our lives.
Albert Einstein

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## Loki

Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.
--Albert Einstein 

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

-- Albert Einstein 

 :Smile:

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## kilted exile

Einstein said a lot of great things my favourite is "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." 
This site contains most of them.

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## amuse

gorgeous, kilted.

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## mono

> Einstein said a lot of great things my favourite is "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." 
> This site contains most of them.


I think I remember reading this in a book of his that I have, called _Ideas and Opinions_, written by Albert Einstein, himself.
Thanks, kilted - very classic!  :Smile:

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## Nightshade

I had lost my book of quotes but have found it now, other than Kilted siggy which are one of my favs from Einstine I like:
"learning is an experiance, everything else is just information."
and
"Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

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## Mark F.

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

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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## mono

Another good one I read today:



> He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

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## SapereAude

Some of my favorite quotes from this brilliant human being:

"We know nothing at all. All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren. The real nature of things we shall never know." 

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."

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## Pendragon

A rather strange quote by a man so dedicated to science and one I have often wondered exactly what he really meant when he said it is:

"If the facts do not fit the theory, change the facts."

Anyone have any comment? I would find it extremely odd for Einstein to "fake" data, for he was a true scientist. So what did he mean?  :Confused:

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## B-Mental

I think Einstein was implying that you need to start at the begining and see if the facts are accurate, applicable, and relevant. You have to remember that Einstein was working in a field at a time when maybe only one hundred other people were. He wasn't implying one should fake data, but review in light of the results. I would express this as, "If at first you don't succeed, learn from your mistakes and try again."

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## Pendragon

> I think Einstein was implying that you need to start at the begining and see if the facts are accurate, applicable, and relevant. You have to remember that Einstein was working in a field at a time when maybe only one hundred other people were. He wasn't implying one should fake data, but review in light of the results. I would express this as, "If at first you don't succeed, learn from your mistakes and try again."


Or perhaps, like this, for as I said, I can't see him faking data: "If the facts do not fit the theory you need NEW facts..."

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## Ricardo_b

> A rather strange quote by a man so dedicated to science and one I have often wondered exactly what he really meant when he said it is:
> 
> "If the facts do not fit the theory, change the facts."
> 
> Anyone have any comment? I would find it extremely odd for Einstein to "fake" data, for he was a true scientist. So what did he mean?


He could be joking, he was known for his dark humor.

My favourite by far is this:
"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."

I love the use of the word spirits instead of minds, implying that your iq means nothing, your will does. In today's society of fashions the one's that wish to actually use their brains and eventually may have different ideas on life and people are "weird", "strange". 

Well, proud weird guy in this corner.
And I'm not just saying I actually do it, even when it gets really hard.

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## Melancholia

A brilliant one.

"Only two things are infinite the universe and human stupidity... And i am not too sure about the first"  :Smile:

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## NewWorldOrder

So many people seem to admire what he said, then why are we at war more and more ?

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## starrwriter

> So many people seem to admire what he said, then why are we at war more and more ?


I think the majority of people admire Einstein for his scientific genius, not for his pacifist/anti-war philosophy.

Unfortunately, war seems to be an inescapable result of international politics as practiced up to the present. I hope it won't be like that in the future.

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## kilted exile

> A rather strange quote by a man so dedicated to science and one I have often wondered exactly what he really meant when he said it is:
> 
> "If the facts do not fit the theory, change the facts."
> 
> Anyone have any comment? I would find it extremely odd for Einstein to "fake" data, for he was a true scientist. So what did he mean?


I have seen this quote before as "If the facts dont fit the theory, change the theory" (it is on a t-shirt I own) I will try to find out which is correct.

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## starrwriter

> I have seen this quote before as "If the facts dont fit the theory, change the theory" (it is on a t-shirt I own) I will try to find out which is correct.


Einstein actually did fudge the facts when he added the "cosmological constant" to the equations of his general theory of relativity to make them work. Strangely enough, some current cosmologists now think the cosmological constant is correct, based on observed phenomenon. Einstein may have been right even when he cheated.

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## laura_c

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


This one is my favorite. I find it so true to the world and current events right now.

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## toni

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." 


Classic.  :Nod:

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## hoope

" The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible. "

" The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. "

" The important thing is not to stop questioning. "

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## Abdiel

> A rather strange quote by a man so dedicated to science and one I have often wondered exactly what he really meant when he said it is:
> 
> "If the facts do not fit the theory, change the facts."
> 
> Anyone have any comment? I would find it extremely odd for Einstein to "fake" data, for he was a true scientist. So what did he mean?


I think Einstein may have been saying a number of things:

1) you have to be a revolutionary thinker and not be confined by what others deem possible or impossible.

2) maybe he was saying that sometimes we believe a certain theory is true for so long and twist the facts to fit it, but this is wrong. 

Eg: people believed that the Earth was the center of our solar system and the sun revolved around it, and they tried to prove this through whatever observable facts they could. But then Galileo came along and proved that the sun is at the center of our solar system and established this as a fact. Therefore, Galileo changed the facts.

3) Einstein was being clever and funny, as he often was.

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## SammyH

such a profound man! you don't hear things like anymore.

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## IceM

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned this inexplicable epoch of brilliance.

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.

Albert Einsteinium.

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## Jazz_

"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." 

"It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I stay with problems longer ."

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## Dori

> A rather strange quote by a man so dedicated to science and one I have often wondered exactly what he really meant when he said it is:
> 
> "If the facts do not fit the theory, change the facts."
> 
> Anyone have any comment? I would find it extremely odd for Einstein to "fake" data, for he was a true scientist. So what did he mean?


Think outside the box. Don't trust the facts. 
That's what I gather from the quote.

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## Dinkleberry2010

Dostoevsky gives me more than any scientist

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