Albert Einstein died in 1955, I was still was in kindergarten that year, but I knew about him, the image of a man who played the violin and danced with his dog, was irresistible to this 5 year old. He even looked a bit like my beloved Grandpa with his wild hair and huge grin. In my rambling opinion, a very interesting person, with a true sense of joy!
The more I learn about him, the more I feel that his expansive soul, and curiosity was the true engine of his genius.
Albert Einstein, born 14 March 1789, in Ulm, Kingdom of Wuttemburg,a part of then German Empire.
So in honor of himself , gentlereaders , are a couple of clippings I hope you enjoy.
The Poignant Story of Albert Einstein’s ‘Magnificent’ 70th Birthday Party
Albert Einstein’s March 14 birthday is always cause for celebration. In past years, children in Princeton, N.J. — the theoretical physicist’s home for about two decades — have participated in an Einstein look-alike contest, and in San Francisco people would sing him the Happy Birthday song while circling a shrine to Pi at the Exploratorium science museum. (March 14 is also known as Pi Day for its tie to the first digits of Pi, 3.14.)
Such elaborate celebrations are ironic because Einstein was known for eschewing birthday parties. “It is a known fact that I was born, and that is all that is necessary,” he told a Princeton High School student journalist in 1935.
One birthday party he did like, however, was for his 70th — thanks to some very special visitors.
On March 13, 1949, the day before Einstein’s birthday, children who had just been relocated to the U.S. from a displaced persons camp in Europe visited his home in Princeton, where he taught at the Institute for Advanced Study. Even four years after World War II ended, many who had been made homeless by the war had yet to be settled.
One of the children brought to the U.S. was even related to Einstein: 11-year-old Elizabeth Kerzek, a distant cousin, who met her famous relative for the first time at this celebration. In the photo above, the man next to Einstein is William Rosenwald, an honorary president of the United Service for New Americans (USNA), the organization that brought the children over, as well as chairman of United Jewish Appeal.
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During this 70th birthday celebration, Einstein received a bouquet of flowers as a birthday present, and he had a gift for the children too: a box of chocolates and dried fruit, the Associated Press reported. Birthday-party activities included taking turns sitting on his lap and playing with his pet terrier Chico.
At the birthday celebration, Rosenwald reportedly vowed to Einstein that all displaced persons camps would be “empty” and all displaced European Jews would be relocated to places like the U.S. and Israel, which had only recently become a nation, by year’s end — a “pledge” that Einstein described as a “magnificent birthday gift,” according to the New York Times.
In fact, Philippe Halsman, who was there to photograph Einstein’s birthday party, was one of several people who the scientist himself had helped come to the U.S. in 1940 after the Nazis invaded France.
Einstein could relate to the plight of being uprooted, as a German Jewish refugee himself. He came to the U.S. in October 1933, months after he was forced to flee his Berlin home because he was “widely thought to be public enemy number one of the Nazis” after criticizing the repressive policies implemented after Adolf Hitler came to power, as scholar Andrew Robinson wrote for TIME.
That same year, Einstein had helped establish the American branch of the International Relief Association, a European forerunner to the International Rescue Committee, which aimed to rescue those threatened in Nazi Germany. Up until his death on April 18, 1955, he used his name recognition from developing a general theory of relativity to help others come to the U.S. to escape persecution, serving as an honorary president of the French Jewish social welfare organization OSE (short for Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants, or the Children’s Aid Society).
During the war, he advocated on behalf of innocent children who were victims of persecution orchestrated by adults. For example, in the archives of the humanitarian organization American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, there’s a June 25, 1941, letter in which Einstein thanked the organization’s chairman for facilitating the arrival of more than 100 rescued children from France, and giving them “a new lease on life,” and he lamented what they had to endure before reaching adulthood.
“Torn away from parental care and love, thrown from country to country, from place to place, delivered out to senseless persecution…having to face the dreadful confinement in a concentration camp,” he wrote. “Efforts to save these children must not slacken… I therefore turn to you with the urgent plea to keep the problem of the evacuation of the refugee children in the forefront of your attention.”
- “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” 1
- “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” 1
- “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.” 1
- “If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” 1
- “Men marry women with the hope they will never change. Women marry men with the hope they will change. Invariably they are both disappointed.” 1
- “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” 1
- “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” 1
- “If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.” 1
- “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” 1
- “As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.” 1
15 Most Inspiring Albert Einstein Quotes
Admin and Founder of ‘The Secrets Of The Universe’ and former intern at Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, I am a science student pursuing a Master’s in Physics from India. I love to study and write about Stellar Astrophysics, Relativity & Quantum Mechanics.
Albert Einstein was one of the greatest minds to walk on this planet. Born more than 100 years ago, scientists are still trying to prove his theories. But like everyone on Earth, even he faced a lot of troubles and rejections. The world took a while to realize his genius. One of the many Albert Einstein quotes, “Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere,” encodes the reason why he was so great. Imagination and his thought experiments helped him see the universe in a way no one could think of.
He was born on 14 March 1879. back then, Sir Isaac Newton was regarded as a great legend. Newton’s theory of gravity was the only existing theory that could explain the planets’ motion around the Sun. But around the time of Einstein’s birth, a Scottish physicist named James Clerk Maxwell gave his theory of electromagnetism. In four equations, now known as Maxwell’s equations, he showed how the electric and magnetic fields are interlinked.
Also watch: The physical meaning of the 4 Maxwell’s equations
Since his childhood, Einstein always imagined what he would see if he traveled on a beam of light? Over the course of years, this thought experiment helped him develop a new theory – the theory of special relativity. The theory has its roots embedded in Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetism. For the first time in over 250 years, Newton was proven wrong.
Years later, Einstein developed yet another theory – general relativity. This was the greatest achievement of a single human mind in history. The reason why Einstein has such a rich legacy is the fact that modern-day physics stands on two main pillars: quantum mechanics and general relativity. While the former explains the world of subatomic particles, the latter explains the universe on a larger scale. Quantum mechanics resulted from many minds over the course of about 25-30 years, while general relativity was an outcome of a single mind in just 8 years.
Einstein’s name has become synonymous with genius and creativity. Named Person of the Century by TIME in 1999, Einstein is a rare icon whose wisdom extended far beyond the realm of science to reveal a man with an almost childlike sense of wonder and a profound love of humanity.
Let us now have a look at 15 of the most inspirational Albert Einstein quotes that reflect his wisdom.
I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am.
The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. Another is as though everything is a miracle
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
Although I am a typical loner in daily life, my consciousness of belonging to the invisible community of those who strive for truth, beauty, and justice has preserved me from feeling isolated.
Science can flourish only in an atmosphere of free speech.
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to goals, not to people.
I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.
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Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hopes of reward after death.
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
Everybody is a genius. Bit if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
These were the most inspirational of all Albert Einstein quotes. Also read inspirational quotes by:
