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Who said: “The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.”
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Albert Einstein
(14 Mar 1879 - 18 Apr 1955)

German-American physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect.


Albert Einstein Quote
“Imagination is more important than knowledge”

Illustrated Quote - Medium (500 x 350 px)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
— Albert Einstein
In Cosmic Religion: With Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931).

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This quote is well-documented, because it appears in an interview with G.S. Viereck that was printed in a 1929 magazine article:1

[Viereck] “If we owe so little to the experience of others, how do you account for sudden leaps forward in the sphere of science? Do you ascribe your own discoveries to intuition or inspiration?”

[Einstein] “I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am. When two expeditions of scientists, financed by the Royal Academy, went forth to test my theory of relativity, I was convinced that their conclusions would tally with my hypothesis. I was not surprised when the eclipse of May 29, 1919, confirmed my intuitions. I would have been surprised if I had been wrong.”

[Viereck] “Then you trust more to your imagination than to your knowledge?”

[Einstein] “I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

At this point, the interviewer immediately switched to the topic of Einstein's religious belief. This interview does not include anything extending the quote to progress, its evolution or the role of scientific research, as seen in a collection, Cosmic Religion: With Other Opinions and Aphorisms2 (1931). There, it is given—without citation—as:

“I believe in intuition and inspiration. … At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. When the eclipse of 1919 confirmed my intuition, I was not in the least surprised. In fact, I would have been astonished had it turned out otherwise. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research.”

1 George Sylvester Viereck, 'What Life Means to Einstein', Saturday Evening Post (26 Oct 1929), 117. Reprinted in Viereck, Glimpses of the Great (1930), 447.
2 Einstein on Cosmic Religion and Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931, 2012), 97.

Text by Webmaster. The full Viereck interview article is online as a pdf copy. (source)


See also:
  • Science Quotes by Albert Einstein.
  • 14 Mar - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Einstein's birth.
  • Albert Einstein - My Theory - The Times (1919).
  • Geometry and Experience - Address by Albert Einstein to the Prussian Academy of Sciences (27 Jan 1921).
  • Even Einstein's Little Universe Is Big Enough - New York Times article (2 Feb 1921).
  • Large color picture of Albert Einstein (850 x 1000 px).
  • Albert Einstein - Context of “God … integrates empirically” quote - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
  • Albert Einstein - Context of “Laws of mathematics refer to reality” quote
  • Albert Einstein - Context of “Laws of mathematics refer to reality” quote - with Large image (800 x 600 px).
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  • Albert Einstein - context of quote “Politics is more difficult than physics” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
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  • Albert Einstein - context of quote “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
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  • Albert Einstein - context of quote A theory can be proved by experiment - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
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  • Albert Einstein - context of quote “Our exalted technological progress” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
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  • Albert Einstein - context of quote “There exists a passion for comprehension” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
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  • Albert Einstein - context of quote “An equation is for eternity” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
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  • Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein, by Abraham Pais. - book suggestion.
  • Booklist for Albert Einstein.

Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.
Carl Sagan Thumbnail Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)
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