Don’t read that hogwash
The Letters of Albert Einstein
I am so enraged by the base manner in which the public is presently daring to concern itself with you that I absolutely must give vent to this feeling. . . Anyone who does not number among these reptiles is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages among us as you—real people with whom one feels privileged to be in contact. If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don’t read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptile for whom it has been fabricated.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Marie Curie1
23rd November 1911
The things I’ve gained from so much strenuous work should be of value not only to strangers but especially to my own boys. In the last few days I completed one of the finest papers of my life [On the General Theory of Relativity]. When you’re older I’ll tell you about it.
Albert Einstein
Letter to his 11-year-old son, Hans Albert
4th November 1915
With fame I become more and more stupid, which of course is a very common phenomenon.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Heinrich Zangger
24th December 1919
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein
Letter to his 19-year-old son, Eduard
5th February 1930
The love of living creatures is for me the finest and best trait of mankind.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Valentine Bulgakov
4th November 1931
Scientists believe that every occurrence, including the affairs of human beings, is due to the laws of nature. Therefore a scientist cannot be inclined to believe that the course of events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by a supernaturally manifested wish.
However, we must concede that our actual knowledge of these forces is imperfect, so that in the end the belief in the existence of a final, ultimate spirit rests on a kind of faith. Such belief remains widespread even with the current achievements in science.
But also, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.
Albert Einstein
Letter to a young girl named Phyllis
24th January 1936
The moral decline we are compelled to witness and the suffering it engenders are so oppressive that one cannot ignore them even for a moment. No matter how deeply one immerses oneself in work, a haunting feeling of inescapable tragedy persists. Still, there are moments when one feels free from one’s own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments, one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable: life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only being.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium
9th January 1939
A policy is now being pursued in the State Department which makes it all but impossible to give refuge in America to many worthy persons who are the victims of Fascist cruelty in Europe. Of course, this is not openly avowed by those responsible for it. The method which is being used, however, is to make immigration impossible by erecting a wall of bureaucratic measures alleged to be necessary to protect America against subversive, dangerous elements. I would suggest that you talk about this question to some well-informed and right-minded person such as [American diplomat] Mr. Hamilton Fish Armstrong. If then you become convinced that a truly grave injustice is under way, I know that you will find it possible to bring the matter to the attention of your heavily burdened husband in order that it may be remedied.
Albert Einstein
Letter to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
26th July 1941
I’m doing just fine, considering I have triumphantly survived Nazism and two wives.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Jakob Ehrat
12th May 1952
The strange thing about growing old is that the intimate identification with the here and now is slowly lost; one feels transposed into infinity, more or less alone, no longer in hope or fear, only observing.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium
12th January 1953
The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Eric Gutkind2
3rd January 1954
I believe that older people who have scarcely anything to lose ought to be willing to speak out on behalf of those who are young and who are subject to much greater restraint.
Albert Einstein
Letter to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium
28th March 1954
Sources
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Einstein on Peace, edited by Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden
The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, edited by John Stachel, David C. Cassidy, and Robert Schulmann
Previous Megamixes
Curie was being relentlessly hounded by the public and press for having a relationship with a man who was married but separated from his wife. Einstein was writing to tell her to ignore the trolls. This was the year Curie received the second of her Nobel Prizes.
This letter sold in 2008 for £170,000. Read it in full here.
Truly a brilliant man.
Another quote by him: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”
Thank you, Shaun, for the perspective you provide. It helps me keep my bearing in these crazy times we’re living in.