Tag Archives: quotes

Debunking Fake Albert Einstein Quotes

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Albert Einstein tongueLast updated on May 2, 2013

The reason for the proliferation of so many fake quotes attributed to Einstein is that he has become synonymous with genius and wisdom. Surely, if Einstein had said these things, then they must be wise indeed!

This post will examine popular quotes on the internet that have been falsely or mistakenly attributed to Albert Einstein.

I will update this page as more fake Einstein quotes circulate the internet. Please post a comment for any questions or corrections.

 

Fake Quotes Attributed to Einstein

1. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

This false quotation is commonly printed on self-help and motivation posters. While the sentiment is nice, there is no evidence Einstein ever said this.

The first appearance of this quote is from  (2004) by Matthew Kelly, p. 80, however there is no evidence of it being printed prior, and no evidence Einstein said it.

The quote is probably based on  (1940) by George Reavis, where a fish goes to school and is required to work on his running and climbing. The Animal School was reprinted in 1999 and may have influenced Matthew Kelly or someone else to create this fake attribution.

Another alternative is that the false quotation is based on what Einstein Self-Portrait (1936),

What is significant in one’s own existence one is hardly aware, and it certainly should not bother the other fellow. What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?

This real quotation may have influenced the false one above.

 

2. “It would be my greatest sadness to see Zionists do to Palestinian Arabs much of what Nazis did to Jews.”

There is no recorded evidence that Einstein ever said this quotation.

The motivation for this fake quote should be apparent. It would be beneficial to pro-Palestinian activists to show that a paragon of wisdom, and a Jew himself no less, was also pro-Palestinian and/or anti-Israel.

This fake quotation also compares Zionists to Nazis, which is suspicious because Einstein was a supporter of Labor Zionism. However, Einstein did sign an in 1948 that said, “Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our times is the emergence in the newly created state of Israel of the “Freedom Party” (Tnuat Haherut), a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties.” The fake quote originally posted above, may have been inspired from this open letter.

 

3. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

This is another fake motivational/inspirational quote attributed to Einstein. The first recorded instance I found of this quote is from  (2010) by Alice Calaprice and Freeman Dyson on p. 481, however Alice lists the quote under the “Probably Not By Einstein” section.

There is no evidence Einstein ever said this quote, and frankly it doesn’t sound like something Einstein would say, as he was a highly logical individual.

 

4. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”

This quote is actually written by E. F. Schumacher in a 1973 essay titled “Small is Beautiful” which appeared in The Radical Humanist: volume 37, .

This first false attributions of this quote to Einstein began to circulate on the internet in 1997, and then later appeared in print in BMJ: The British Medical Journal, volume 319, 23 October 1999, .

 

5. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

There is no evidence Einstein ever said this. The likely origin of this quote is from the Basic Texts of Narcotics Anonymous, which is the first known source of this quote. The Basic Texts were first drafted to members in 1981 and published in 1983.

 

6. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.”

There is no first hand source of Einstein’s writing or speeches that contains this quote. The first appearance of this quote that I can find is in  (2006) by Robert E. Hinshaw, . In this book Hinshaw quotes Gilbert Fowler White’s Journal of France and Germany (1942 – 1944) as the original source of the quote. It is here that Gilbert Fowler White wrote,

“As I look back over the truly crucial events in my life I realize that they were not planned long in advance. Albert Einstein said, ‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.’”

The most likely source of Gilbert’s for an Einstein quote on miracles would be David Reichenstein’s Die Religion der Gebildeten (1941), which was released a year prior to Gilbert’s Journal. It is here that Reichenstein asks Einstein about Arthur Liebert’s theory that uncertainty and indeterminism in quantum mechanics allows for the possibility of miracles. Einstein replied that he could not accept the argument because it dealt “with a domain in which lawful rationality does not exist. A miracle, however, is an exception from lawfulness; hence, there where lawfulness does not exist, also its exception, i.e., a miracle, cannot exist.”

Gilbert Fowler White may have inadvertently invented this Einstein quote based on his understanding of Einstein’s  above.

The Insane Quotes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a controversial and polarizing figure.

His wide ranging statements include Holocaust denial, insinuations that Israel should be destroyed, declaring that the United States has never won a war, and saying that there are no homosexuals in Iran.

There is some debate whether Ahmadinejad has seriously called for Israel to be destroyed, or whether he meant that Israel’s form of government should end. The truth is he has called for both – for Israel to be destroyed, and its government to be ended.

Below is a list of statements made my Mahmoud Ahmadinejad categorized by Holocaust denial, statements on Israel, statements on the United States, and statements on technology and culture.

Holocaust Denial

“They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets. The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets, (it) deals very severely with those who deny this myth but does not do anything to those who deny God, religion, and the prophet. If you have burned the Jews, why don’t you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel? Our question is, if you have committed this huge crime, why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?” Source: Jewish Virtual Library (December 2005)

“Of course, some governments and their people always hated the Jews because of the ugly conduct of some of them. They wanted to drive the Jews out of Europe. But anti-Semitism was planned mainly by some European governments and politicians, and by the Zionist network. They made hundreds of films, wrote hundreds of books, spread rumors, and conducted psychological warfare, in order to drive them away, to the land of Palestine. Four or five years after World War II, they suddenly claimed that during that war, the Holocaust affair had taken place. In other words, according to their claims, several million Jews were burned in the crematoria. They created two slogans. The first was about the injustice suffered by the Jewish people. By means of lies, very twisted propaganda, and psychological warfare, they created the notion that the Jews suffered injustice, and, secondly, that they needed a land and an independent state. They acted so effectively that some of the world’s politicians and intellectuals were also deceived and influenced.”
Source: MEMRITV (September 18, 2009)

“If the Holocaust that you talk about was real, why don’t you allow the subject to be studied? One can freely research any issue, except for this issue, which is sealed. It is a black box, which they do not allow to be opened or reexamined. They do this in order to exploit it.”
Source: MEMRITV (September 18, 2009)

On Israel

“Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation’s fury.”
Source: CNN (October 27, 2005)

“There is no doubt that the new wave in Palestine will soon wipe off this disgraceful blot from the face of the Islamic world.”
Source: Al Jazeera (October 26, 2005)

“Today too, the most important issue in the world is Palestine. If a war breaks out in Iraq, we believe it is due to the provocation of the Zionists. If it happens in Afghanistan, it is because of their provocation. If Sudan is oppressed, it is due to Zionist seduction. We consider all the arrogant, colonialist schemes to be inspired by the Zionists.”
Source: MEMRITV (September 18, 2009)

“The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast.”
Source: Jerusalem Post (February 20, 2008)

“Death to Israel! Death to Israel!”
Source:

“I want to tell them (western countries) just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out.”
Source: Democracy Now! (December 13, 2006)

“The establishment of the Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world.”
Source: Worldpress (October 30, 2005)

“Our dear Imam said that the occupying regime [Israel] must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement… I have no doubt that the new wave that has started in Palestine, and we witness it in the Islamic world too, will eliminate this disgraceful stain from the Islamic world.”
Source:

“Confronting this regime and opposing Zionists are a national duty, as well as religious and Islamic duty, and a human duty. Even the people of Europe and America despise the Zionists. They hate them. They feel humiliated by the Zionists, who are a burden on them.”
Source: MEMRITV (September 18, 2009)

“I believe that with the complete formation of the global Zionist network, they have seized control of the fate of the European governments, and of the US government. To the independent countries in the world, I would like to say: You should know that the influence of the Zionist network on your culture, your politics, and your economy is tantamount to a violation of your independence. They cling like ticks. The moment they gain influence, they never stop.”
Source: MEMRITV (September 18, 2009)

On the United States

“The United States has never entered a serious war, and has never been victorious.”
Source: The Atlantic (September 21, 2010)

“Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism? You should know that this slogan, this goal, can certainly be achieved.”
Source: New York Post (September 23, 2007)

Technology and Culture

“We will convert the entire world to Islam with our logic. We are confident that the Islamic logic, culture, and discourse can prove their superiority in all fields over all schools of thought and theories.”
Source:

“In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country. […] In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who’s told you that we have this.”
Source:

“Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal that the art of martyrdom?  A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity. Those who wish to undermine this principle undermines the foundations of our independence and national security . . . The message of the (Islamic) Revolution is global, and is not restricted to a specific place or time . . . Allah willing, Islam will conquer what?  It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world.”
Source: