Albert Einstein Quotes on Death
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist whose work revolutionized the scientific understanding of space, time, energy, and matter. This page collects quotes attributed to Albert Einstein on the topic of death, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Albert Einstein:
“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.”
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“Unser ganzer gepriesener Fortschritt der Technik, überhaupt die Civilisation, ist der Axt in der Hand des pathologischen Verbrechers vergleichbar.”
1910s | Our entire much-praised technological progress, and civilization generally, could be compared to an axe in the hand of a pathological criminal. Letter to Heinrich Zangger (1917), as quoted in A Sense -
“Liebe Mutter! Heute eine freudige Nachricht. H. A. Lorentz hat mir telegraphiert, dass die englischen Expeditionen die Lichtablenkung an der Sonne wirklich bewiesen haben.”
1910s | Dear mother! Today a joyful notice. H. A. Lorentz has telegraphed me that the English expeditions have really proven the deflection of light at the sun. Postcard to his mother Pauline Einstein (1919) -
“Insofern sich die Sätze der Mathematik auf die Wirklichkeit beziehen, sind sie nicht sicher, und insofern sie sicher sind, beziehen sie sich nicht auf die Wirklichkeit.”
1920s | In so far as theories of mathematics speak about reality, they are not certain, and in so far as they are certain, they do not speak about reality. Geometrie and Erfahrung (1921) pp. 3-4 link.springer -
“Die Diktatur bringt den Maulkorb und dieser die Stumpfheit. Wissenschaft kann nur gedeihen in einer Atmosphäre des Freien Wortes.”
1930s | A dictatorship means muzzles all round and consequently stultification. Science can flourish only in an atmosphere of free speech . "Science and Dictatorship," in Dictatorship on Its Trial, by Eminent