1) Einstein believed that politics is more difficult than physics because while experiments can prove theories in physics, no experiments can give birth to new theories. 2) Einstein noted that while all scientists think they understand light quanta, 50 years of thought had not brought him any closer to truly understanding it. 3) Einstein believed that classical thermodynamics was the only physical theory that would never be overturned because it was based on empirical integration rather than mathematical difficulties.

1. Science Quotes by Albert Einstein
“[When asked 'Dr. Einstein, why is it that when the mind of man has stretched so far as to
discover the structure of the atom we have been unable to devise the political means to keep the
atom from destroying us?] That is simple, my friend. It is because politics is more difficult than
physics.”
— Albert Einstein
Einstein's answer to a conferee at a meeting at Princeton, N.J. (Jan 1946), as recalled by
Greenville Clark in 'Letters to the Times', in New York Times (22 Apr 1955), 24
“A man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. He sits on a hot stove for a
minute; it's longer than any hour. That is relativity. “
— Albert Einstein
James B. Simpson, Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (1957), in Fred R. Shapiro and Joseph Epstein,
The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), 230.
Science quotes on: | Quip (66) | Relativity (30)
A theory can be proved by experiment; but no path leads from experiment to the birth of a
theory.
— Albert Einstein
The Sunday Times (18 Jul 1976)
Science quotes on: | Birth (42) | Experiment (346) | Lead (27) | Path (20) | Proof (120) |
Theory (319)
“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed
toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the
individual towards freedom.“
— Albert Einstein
'Moral Decay',Out of My Later Years (1937, 1995), 9.
Science quotes on: | Freedom (36) | Science And Art (48) | Science And Religion (129)

2. All the fifty years of conscious brooding have brought me no closer to answer the question,
“What are light quanta?” Of course today every rascal thinks he knows the answer, but he is
deluding himself.
— Albert Einstein
(1951). Quoted in Raymond W. Lam, Seasonal Affective Disorder and Beyond (1998), 1.
Science quotes on: | Light (99) | Photon (4) | Thought (143)
Classical thermodynamics ... is the only physical theory of universal content which I am
convinced ... will never be overthrown.
— Albert Einstein
Quoted in Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking (ed.), A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion (2007),
353. Science quotes on: | Theory (319) | Thermodynamics (17)
“Development of Western science is based on two great achievements: the invention of the
formal logical system (in Euclidean geometry) by the Greek philosophers, and the discovery of
the possibility to find out causal relationships by systematic experiment (during the
Renaissance). In my opinion, one has not to be astonished that the Chinese sages have not made
these steps. The astonishing thing is that these discoveries were made at all.”
— Albert Einstein
Letter to J. S. Switzer, 23 Apr 1953, Einstein Archive 61-381. Quoted in Alice Calaprice, The
Quotable Einstein (1996), 180.
Science quotes on: | Cause (101) | Enquiry (69) | Logic (118)
Epistemology without contact with science becomes an empty scheme. Science without
epistemology is—insofar as it is thinkable at all—primitive and muddled.
— Albert Einstein
In Ralph Keyesr, The Quote Verifier, 51-52.
Science quotes on: | Epistemology (4) | Science (754)

3. God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.
— Albert Einstein
Quoted, without citation, by Léopold Infeld in Quest (1942, 1980), 279. If you know the primary
source, please contact Webmaster.
Science quotes on: | God (207) | Integration (10) | Mathematics (318)
“However, all scientific statements and laws have one characteristic in common: they are “true
or false” (adequate or inadequate). Roughly speaking, our reaction to them is “yes” or “no.” The
scientific way of thinking has a further characteristic. The concepts which it uses to build up its
coherent systems are not expressing emotions. For the scientist, there is only “being,” but no
wishing, no valuing, no good, no evil; no goal. As long as we remain within the realm of science
proper, we can never meet with a sentence of the type: “Thou shalt not lie.” There is something
like a Puritan's restraint in the scientist who seeks truth: he keeps away from everything
voluntaristic or emotional.”
— Albert Einstein
Essays in Physics (1950), 68.
Science quotes on: | Adequate (4) | Characteristic (30) | Concept (29) | Emotion (26) | Evil
(28) | False (25) | Goal (27) | Good (63) | Inadequate (3) | Law (243) | Lie (17) | Puritan
(3) | Restraint (4) | Statement (24) | Thinking (140) | True (14) | Truth (399) | Value (50) |
Wish (17)
“I believe in intuition and inspiration. Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress,
giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.”