A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler.
God always takes the simplest way.
All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. As far as I’m concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue. True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.
I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how passionately I hate them! He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice. Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.
If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.
Albert Einstein ( 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a theoretical physicist, philosopher and author who is widely regarded as one of the most influential and best known scientists and intellectuals of all time.
_____________________________________
FRANÇAIS (merci Marie-Christine!)
Un homme doit chercher ce qui est et non pas pour ce qu’il croit devoir etre.N’importe quel fou intelligent peut transformer les choses plus grandes et plus complexes. Il faut une touche de genie – et beaucoup de courage pour changer de direction – Tout devrait etre aussi simple que possible, mais pas plus simple.
Dieu utilise toujours la facon la plus simple. Toutes les religions, les arts et les sciences sont des branches issues du meme arbre. Quant a moi, je prefere le vice a la vertu ostentatoire. La vraie religion est la vie veritable, en la vivant avec toute son ame, avec toute sa bonte et sa justice.
Les grands esprits ont toujours rencontre l’opposition violente des esprits mediocres. Le bon sens est l’ensemble des prejuges que l’on a accumule apres l’age de 18 ans.
L’heroisme sur commande, la violence insensee et toutes les absurdites audieuses qui se rallient sous le nom de patriotisme – je les hais avec une telle passion! – Celui qui marche joyeusement au son de la musique en rang et file a deja gagne mon mepris. On lui a donne un grand cerveau par erreur, car pour lui seul la moelle epiniere suffit. Deux choses sont infinies, l’Univers et la betise humaine; et je ne suis pas sur en ce qui concerne l’Univers.
Vous devez apprendre les regles du jeu et ensuite vous devez jouer mieux que personne.
Albert Einstein (14 mars 1879-18 avril 1955) etait un physicien theorique, philosophe et auteur, qui est considere comme l’un de scientifiques et des intellectuels les plus influents et les mieux connus de tous les temps.”
{ 123 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Oh my god!
I love Albert Einstein so much, he’s my hero!
Dear Mr Coelho Sir,
If I may be allowed to ask…WHY did you choose to call them ‘one minute reads’…..some of them are so inspiring…. intriguing…overwhelming……..cannot seem to hit upon the right word……..one ends up spending MUCH MUCH more than 24*60 minutes on them……
arrtimus
You haven’t enrolled yet it’s obvious.
A brilliant man he is indeed! We need more of Einstein’s realism in our present world. I am moved by this, and it will surely help me with my dealings with other people as a young woman. :)
Inspiring, to the core.
una mente brillante.. nunca mas habra otra igual
When they do programming on computers, they use the right and left side of the brain. Why can they do the same thing at school when they are doing their programming?
I mean it’s only a question of mixing it all up a bit more, numbers, letters, letters, numbers.
I have been thinking on how we judge people. I saw a picture of Einstein’s first wife, the description of her was not very complimentary.I looked at it and I thought she was quite an attractive woman. Maybe she did not fit the image of the time.
Dear Mr. Coelho,
Thank you, very much for your thoughts and I am always eager to read more and more of your works.
I was very fascinated by your words – “The universe conspires to make your dreams come true”. I had read the Alchemist 4 years back, but my personal experiences since then have taught me that this may not necessarily be true. The universe conspires to make God’s plan for me come true. Had it wanted to help my dreams take shape, I would have now been married to the man I love. But things took a different course.
And I do not yet know what God’s plan for me is.
Regards,
Fiona
Very much Inspiring and Simply great message .Thank you
I dont no whot to say its all sow magic so true!!! ale my dreams came from wour books!!!it so wanderfall!!!and I reale wont to now if BRIDA was a true story and if she livs now!!!
Einstein was smart man. He anderstood that we all are one. The universe and the smallest thing on earth, all from the same fabric, consciousness. The mind manifesting itself and creating itself all over again.
hm.
he and his first wife worked together on the development of relativity theory before separating. when he got the nobel prize, he took the title and only gave her the money ….
Se minha Teoria da Relatividade estiver correta, a Alemanha dirá que sou alemão e a França me declarará um cidadão do mundo. Mas, se não estiver, a França dirá que sou alemão e os alemães dirão que sou judeu.
Albert Einstein….
Falar mais o que de uma pessoa espiritosa ,inteligente e na minha opiniäo um dos primeiros hippes do século rssrsrs basta ver o penteado ,o geito simplismente maravilhoso .É O MEU BARATO :
Nationality is stupidity if taken keeping universe in reference. its a major reason for injustice, violence, inequality, racism and wars. we shouldn’t forget that world wars were the result of nationality. the brilliant example of virtue is Buddha who never spoke a word about nationality or religion but simply gave explanation on humanity. and Einstein ‘s creation of E equals MC square is not a mistake. evil minded people analyze it on human destructive way! the simple but complicated equation of Einstein’s explain the birth and death of universe,planets,stars.. it has extremely good impact in world of physics and astronomy. and as Einsteins
said that we use very little percentage of our brain is correct. for instance we all have same brain with same biological constituents but who make optimum use of their brain are considered intelligent ones. Number has great contribution on human kind. the speed of light, rotation of earth,plasmic actions on universe are not imaginary or only based on logics but the explanation of physics and maths and experimenttally proved. there may be errors and hypothesis on other branch of science but not in maths. and Einstein is the example of great mathematical brain!
Einstein had the perfect balance.He shifted from the feminine energy onto the masculine energy and perceived both with great ease.
“I will do a flight of fantasy and work on some thinking, which is not thinking as you would understand it, but a combinatorial play of some types of imageries and sensory feelings .
Only when this activity comes to some resolution would I fumble in the other side of my head for words and for algebraic statements which would permit me to communicate these insights to others” Albert Einstein
We are unable to see the whole picture due to our education system dealing mainly with the left brain side, thus creating a state of inbalance.
Love that spirit (man) … So true … to put my attention on what is and be careful of that mind that needs to change what is to what it should be … Just read the writings of Khrisnumarti which spoke “very hard” to me … and the one thing he insists if to just stick to what is, and that is a simply action that the mind finds hard to do. Just what it is and silence in order to capture. Trying to “find with the mind” is only to take the known and act upon the known. How then can I discover the unknown …
Love Jojo
Jojo,
Thank you for reminding me about Jiddu Krishnamurti; his thoughts were recommended to me long ago but I believe I didn’t take on to read him until now.
Krishnamurti was a great Indian soul. Indeed it is: what is, and silence. It is important to find that our being forms subconscious consequential patterns of phenomena, and different dimensions of our being (e.g. emotions, sensor input, thoughts, and our divine self) affect this reality. This is the path to true freedom: one lane at a time, it can be investigated with the tools of meditation, and applied to our daily life with mindfulness. (It might also be beneficial to emulate a slide projector to find the empty slide at times…)
If I was to select a philosophy, Krishnamurti would be one of the best candidates. However, I believe that the best ways of living are known by our village elders.
Thank you again.
Blessings,
J
Totalmente de Acuerdo! ésta raza sín estupides no es nada..jajajaja ya que sín errores no existiría la curiosidad descubrir el porqué del fállo…
Totalmente de ACUÉRDO!.. la raza en sí…no és nada sín estupides jajajaja ya que habiéndo errores exíste la curiosidad de descubrir el por que del fállo…jajajaja..EISNTEIN aparte de un GENIO LOCO..és GENIAL”..bueeno fué!…
Me encantò la historia del arbol de Soria que canta!! Eso es puro genio tambien!
If the attempt was made to emulate genius instead of celebrity the whole emphasis of morality would take a seismic shift. Once man has faced up to death, living becomes a much easier proposition. Einstein lived by his intuition, he was his own advisor, he needed no middle man to intercede between him and what or who created him.
Dear Sir,
Thank you so much for inspiring me every single day. Your thoughts are extremely influential in my everyday life.
I am a big fan of yours and i collect all ur books.
God bless.
Einstein was not a social scientist; he was a physicist. And besides, people do make mistakes from time. And so, it is not a very good idea to rely completely on the quotes above.
You have a quote that goes : “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts.”, but then, you also have another one that goes : “A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.” These two quotes contradict each other. And then there is “As far as I’m concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue.” It really would depend on the kind of vice we are talking about, would it not? A silent serial killer is surely not preferable to a very rich, but ostentatious, philanthropist who gives away billions.
Dear Manix,
I think there is no silver bullet in life that can be explained in a single context. I feel all of the quotes useful tools to remember in the varying situations of life. As for the vice/virtue subject, I found the following Adam Smith quote:
“Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience.”
Yours,
Jm
Great words as usual. I have been following your blog for quite sometime, but havent ever responded. Today after reading the Character of the week: Einstein I felt compelled to respond… “It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction” the words are not only true but very inspiring…
Thanks for giving us such insight!!!
I love Einstein. He’s a great man, but was misused. I saw his relativity-theory running through my 3rd eye, which was a great experience – I thank God for that.
Love
Maryon
xxx
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
A very humble/simple statement from a great/gifted human being.
Well, human stupidity is not really unquantifiable. In fact, it is bounded.
Here is how a computer scientist might estimate this. To arrive at an upper bound, we can assume that humans are capable of atmost a thousand actions a second and that each human being lives at most to an age of 200. First calculate the number of seconds in 200 years. Multiply that by 1000. Call this number X. It is finite. Next sum up the number of people who have ever lived upto now. Call this number Y. Surely, the number of stupid actions taken by humans is less X times Y.
Computer scientists! Is there anything they cannot do?
Hagamos algo para que la destruccion pare y tengamos un mañana gratificante, el mañana de nuestros hijos.
Asi es … genios los de aquellos como Einstein que tenian la verdad en sus palabras.
El universo y la estupidez humana…de seguro q la estupidez supera infinitamenta a cualquier sentimiento nefasto. Ojala se utilzara la inteligencia humana para el bien sin embargo no es asi…ella nos esta llevando a la destruccion.
dear sir,
its a privilege to be part of your blog with regular updates,its full of wisdom. no doubt Mr Einstein is
an philosopher of class with his simple thoughts
which has a deep rooted meaning in itself
thank you Mr paulo cohelo for bringing such articles
iam an huge fan of your books and articles
If I may add a few more thoughts to this – Einstein wasn’t infalliable. At least some harm is done because of bad ideas. If we are to have any chance of helping the world’s poor, we must rely on truth, common sense, ideas of economic justice, and our very own intelligence. If we are to have any chance of eradicating world poverty, we must be willing to face up to truth. If we are to have any chance of changing the world, we must be prepared to face reality. All of it. Head on.
Thank you Mr.Coelho for all your amazing thoughts !
You inspire me !
nice post… simple!
In my opinion Science is parallel to religion and at some point both will complement each other. Art is the continuous expression of God’s creation. Common sense is just that… common… sense.
Jesus was done in by a few very shrewd members of the Sanhedrin; be careful of the evil mind. A man should look at what something is, but not neccessarily accept it and by all means strive to make things better. I am an American and I would hope I would have the courage to put my life on the line if called upon to do so by my country. Know the rules and teach them to others and get everyone to play together to win as a team, as a country , as a civilization.
I heard that Einstein once said that if man used the full 100% of his brains potential, rather than the 10 % we have always used then we would not need bodies. The fact that we have come so far with only 10% is amazing in itself. The human race is a miracle & we still have far to go.
That is an interesting comment. But if I may ask : how does one arrive at the 10% figure? Is there some means by which one can estimate the exact fraction of intelligence people use? How does one statistically really estimate this?
I, for one, rely hugely on statistics and numbers. That is where these arguments are coming from. For instance, we ran a survey to find out how poor farmers were responding to our program. We designed a survey, that is, we selected an appropriate population, selected an appropriate sampling strategy, arrived at the right list of questions to ask, et cetera, et cetera.
To solve problems anywhere, we need hard numbers. Numbers we can rely on. Numbers supplied free of experimental validation courtesy anyone, even Einstein, are not that useful.
Let us be brave enough to seek out the truth.
the usual thoughts are accepted as a heritage and any unusual and new truth that arises amidst such a seeming normal flow would be welcomed with harsh criticism!!!
Einstein; the owner of a great mind. Indeed bestowed upon by the All-Powerful to keep the life spinning till don’t know when.
Thanks for sharing Paulo.
Allah Bless you.
Debe ser increible no tener que memorizar una formula cuando se es el creador de la misma.Una se debe sentir muy poderosa!!ADMIABLE NO CREEN?
“True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.”
Einstein, like many other inspiring people, believed that what counts in life is the way in which we live it! Unfortunately, there are some places in the world today, where fanaticism has taken roots! In these countries, the first question one is asked when meeting someone for the first time is: “What is your religion?” From this moment onwards, one is either accepted or discriminated against according to the answer! This is really regrettable!
Thank you, and Blessings to all…
To do list:
Get a code
Get an ethic cultivate Faith in yourself
And develop the right way to fight and to behave
I am the captain of my soul and the master of my own destiny (Mandela)
I have to be grateful for what’s given by god only and thus embrace this life and give the best of me
I can’t procrastinate or cultivate hate endlessly lock myself in debate avoid all isms and schisms I must unite not divide and excel
Or isolation and poverty in love and currency awaits a deserted low tiny painful hell where only da pusherman dwells sells and leaves you in hell with nothing more to hope for than to be sad story to tell
The rules are simple the abilities a given beauty and friendship everywhere to be discovered so now it’s just a question of shutting up
And to start living
Einstein `s formula of success !
Success is Work + Play +Shut up your mouth !
Great thoughts Paulo !
ALBERT EINSTEIN UN GENIO LO ADMINIRO….
El sentido común es la colección de prejuicios adquiridos por la edad… a mi gusto es la mejor…. las personas tenemos un boton de “stop”.. ese creo es el “sentido comun”.. bueno o malo quien sabe…
and I prefer the simplest way:)
thanks for wise words:)
live, love, be
live and let live
love and let love
be and let be.
nothing you can do can harm others.
nothing they can do can harm you.
nothing you can do can keep two hearts apart.
nothing they can do can keep your heart from leaping.
nothing you can do can keep the music of others inside.
nothing they can do can keep you from living your destiny.
all’s inevitable. god’s all-powerful, benevolent plan is unfolding. so live, love, be.
lovely poem…lovely xx;)
simple and beautiful
wow!!!!!
you have written beautifully!
I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue. Yeah!
Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how passionately I hate them!
That’s the best line….. :)
The most celebrated stupidity of todays world…wish everyone could think like him..!!
Dos cosas son infinitas : el universo y la estupidez humana , y no estoy seguro sobre el universo.Me gusta la filosofia de einstein,pienso que todos deberiamos pensar un poco mas en lo que se puede y en lo que no se debe de hacer.Parece una pesadilla tan solo el pensar que el hombre puede ser tan inconciente que es capaz de las mas grandes atrocidades,muchas de ellas en nombre de una nacion.Estamos acostumbrados a que sean un grupo minimo de personas las que tengan en sus manos el destino de la vida de millones
con tanto cerebro y tanto conocimiento.
como Hiciste para que el sistema no te quiera eliminar?
saludos y mucha suerte
Muy interesante, gracias maestro por estas pildoras de cultura con que contribuyes
Einstein has 2 ways to solve the issue with gravity, but he did not use both of them and just found his new and true way to solve this.
All people should know his relativity theorhy, because this is really change you thinking about real world.
En esta vida de sueños e ilusiones hay un hueco para el amor y la paz . . .Soñamos con mantener el cielo con una mano,las ilusiones por un momento se vienen abajo . . .El amor y la paz la voy buscando en palabras,en melodías,en una sonrisa . . .Admiro genios como Einstein . . . a parte de ser persona fue un tremendo profesional . . .Rescato pensamientos de genios que me hagan el día más llevadero . . . y lo consigo.Puedo ver más allá donde alcanza mi vista y a partir de ahí es donde comienza la aventura . . .
comparto tu pensamiento
buenisimo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
← Previous Comments