I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense... Schopenhauerโs saying, โA man can do what he wants, but not will what he wants,โ has been a very real inspiration to me since my youth; it has been a continual consolation in the face of lifeโs hardships, my own and othersโ, and an unfailing wellspring of tolerance. This realization mercifully mitigates the easily paralyzing sense of responsibility and prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it is conducive to a view of life which, in part, gives humour its due.
Albert EinsteinAll such action would cease if those powerful elemental forces were to cease stirring within us.
Albert EinsteinHe 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 suffice.
Albert EinsteinIt must be conceded that a theory has an important advantage if its basic concepts and fundamental hypotheses are 'close to experience,' and greater confidence in such a theory is certainly justified. There is less danger of going completely astray, particularly since it takes so much less time and effort to disprove such theories by experience. Yet more and more, as the depth of our knowledge increases, we must give up this advantage in our quest for logical simplicity in the foundations of physical theory.
Albert Einstein