If I were not a Jew I would be a Quaker.
Interpretation
Einstein expresses admiration for Quaker values, highlighting the importance of peace and ethics in living.
In this quote, Einstein conveys a deep respect for the Quaker faith and its principles, particularly its commitment to peace and social justice. By stating that he would choose to be a Quaker if he were not a Jew, he emphasizes the moral and ethical values that both faiths share, reflecting his belief in the significance of compassion and solidarity in human existence.
In practice
In a speech about tolerance and understanding among different faiths.
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.
If 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.
In truth the Church is too unique to prove herself unique. For most popular and easy proof is by parallel; and here there is no parallel.
Religious War has signified the greatest advance of the masses so far, for it proves that the masses have begun to treat concepts with respect.
This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners; for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ's, and Christ's righteousness is not Christ's but ours.
If the human race develops an electronic nervous system, outside the bodies of individual people, thus giving us all one mind and one global body, this is almost precisely what has happened in the organization of cells which compose our own bodies. We have already done it. [...] If all this ends with the human race leaving no more trace of itself in the universe than a system of electronic patterns, why should that trouble us? For that is exactly what we are now!
Once you understand that Goliath is much weaker than you think he is, and David has superior technology, then you say: why do we tell the story the way we do? It becomes, actually, a far more meaningful and important story in its retelling than in the kind of unsophisticated way we've done it for, I think, too long.
Being an occupier is not good for anybody's global standing. It is a catalyst for terrorist recruitment.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.