I cannot then believe in this concept of an anthropomorphic God who has the powers of interfering with these natural laws. As I said before, the most beautiful and most profound religious emotion that we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. And this mysticality is the power of all true science.
After a certain high level of technical skill is achieved science and art tend to coalesce in aesthetics, plasticity, and form. The greatest scientists are artists as well.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Science and art share a deep connection, especially at high levels of skill, emphasizing the creativity in scientific pursuits.
In this quote, Albert Einstein highlights the intricate relationship between science and art, suggesting that when individuals reach a profound mastery of technical skills, these two domains often merge. He emphasizes that the most exceptional scientists also embody artistic qualities, indicating that creativity and aesthetic appreciation are vital aspects of scientific achievement.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on the importance of interdisciplinary studies, this quote can be used to stress the value of combining scientific and artistic approaches.
More from Albert Einstein
All quotes βIf I would follow your advice and Jesus could perceive it, he, as a Jewish teacher, surely would not approve of such behavior.
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
In the middle of adversity there is great opportunity.
I do not believe that civilization will be wiped out in a war fought with the atomic bomb. Perhaps two-thirds of the people of the earth will be killed.
To me the worst thing seems to be a school principally to work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the sincerity and the self-confidence of pupils and produces a subservient subject.
Similar quotes
Even if there were no actual evidence in favor of the Darwinian theory, we should still be justified in preferring it over all rival theories.
What are the chances that we will one day discover that DNA has absolutely nothing to do with inheritance? They are effectively zero.
Artificial selection turned the wolf into the shepherd, and the wild grasses into wheat and corn. In fact, almost every plant and animal that we eat today was bred from a wild, less edible ancestor. If artificial selection can work such profound changes in only ten or fifteen thousand years, what can natural selection do operating over billions of years? The answer is all the beauty and diversity of life.
Science is feasible when the variables are few and can be enumerated; when their combinations are distinct and clear. We are tending toward the condition of science and aspiring to do it. The artist works out his own formulas; the interest of science lies in the art of making science.
[About the great synthesis of atomic physics in the 1920s:] It was a heroic time. It was not the doing of any one man; it involved the collaboration of scores of scientists from many different lands. But from the first to last the deeply creative, subtle and critical spirit of Niels Bohr guided, restrained, deepened and finally transmuted the enterprise.
We are in a fool's climate, accidentally kept cool by smoke, and before this century is over billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable.