Politics is for the present, but an equation is for eternity.

I carried on the negotiations with the leaders of the Nazi group at the University, proposing that we should organize a strike of the students.

It was the experience of mystery – even if mixed with fear – that engendered religion.

Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.

Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.

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

The last time when I handed over information was in February or March 1949.

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

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

To the Master’s honor all must turn, each in its track, without a sound, forever tracing Newton’s ground.

You ask me if I keep a notebook to record my great ideas. I’ve only ever had one.

Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.

Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

I had therefore, no hesitation in giving all the information I had, even though occasionally I tried to concentrate mainly on giving information about the results of my own work.

The road to perdition has ever been accompanied by lip service to an ideal.

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish.

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.

There is nobody I know by name who is concerned with collecting information for the Russian authorities. There are people whom I know by sight whom I trusted with my life.

Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature.

The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.

Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.

In the post war period I began again to have my doubts about Russian policy.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

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

I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.

Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.

I joined the Communist Party because I felt I had to be in some organization.

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

The man of science is a poor philosopher.

Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterize our age.

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

It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.

Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.

In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself.

My argument was that we could not stop Hitler by cooperating with other bourgeois parties but that only a united working class could stop him.

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.

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

Morality is of the highest importance – but for us, not for God.

I think the one thing that most stands out is that my father always did what he believed to be the right thing to do and he always told us that we had to go...

I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil.

The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.

Isn’t it strange that I who have written only unpopular books should be such a popular fellow?

God does not play dice.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.