QuoteProject
Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. But mere thinking cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clear these fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life of the individual, seems to me precisely the most important function which religion has to form in the social life of man.
Albert Einstein
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes that intelligence can clarify our goals but understanding deeper meanings and values requires religion.

Einstein suggests that while intelligence helps us understand how our actions relate to our goals, it cannot provide us with insights into our ultimate purposes in life. He argues that religion plays a crucial role in establishing profound values and meanings that influence our emotional lives, thereby shaping our social existence and guiding our actions beyond mere intellect.

Themes

IntelligenceReligionValuesPurposeSocial Life

In practice

Example use cases

In a lecture on the role of religion in modern society.

More from Albert Einstein

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.
Albert EinsteinRead
If I would follow your advice and Jesus could perceive it, he, as a Jewish teacher, surely would not approve of such behavior.
Albert EinsteinRead
I want to know all Gods thoughts; all the rest are just details.
Albert EinsteinRead
In the middle of adversity there is great opportunity.
Albert EinsteinRead
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.
Albert EinsteinRead
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.
Albert EinsteinRead

Similar quotes

Foreigners have a complex set of associations in their minds when they think of America - from Iraq to 9/11, certainly, but also from Coke to jeans. It is entirely possible for people around the world to love American products, American books, American movies, American music, and dislike the policies of the government of America.
Shashi TharoorRead
As long as my record stands in federal court, any American citizen can be held in prison or concentration camps without a trial or a hearing.
Fred KorematsuRead
The judgment: You are now before Yama, King of the Dead. In vain will you try to...deny or conceal the evil deeds you have done. ... the mirror in which Yama seems to read your past is your own memory, and also his judgment is your own. It is you yourself who pronounce your own judgment.
Gautama BuddhaRead
The joke of our time is the suicide of intention.
Theodor AdornoRead
Fare forward, travellers! not escaping from the past_x000D_ _x000D_ Into different lives, or into any future;_x000D_ _x000D_ You are not the same people who left that station_x000D_ _x000D_ Or who will arrive at any terminus,_x000D_ _x000D_ While the narrowing rails slide together behind you.
T. S. EliotRead
In Vancouver, in Sydney and in Orange County, we live among fluorescent stores and streets so brightly lit that you can read a book after dark; in other places across our global body, there are blackouts and curfews every night.
Pico IyerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.