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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. Short biography of Albert Einstein >>

Albert Einstein Quote
“Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing”

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“Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do, but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it.”

— Albert Einstein

Notes on a letter, as cited in Einstein: The Human Side (1981)

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In the book Albert Einstein, the Human Side, this quote is given as the English translation of the comment in German that he jotted down on a letter. It was received while Einsten was visiting England, on his way leaving Germany to join the new Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A.

The correspondent was clearly unschooled in physics, with an understanding so muddled, he thought the world moves so fast that it seems to be stationary. Furthermore, he visualized that because of gravity, a person at different places on the spherical Earth would sometimes be upright, sometimes standing on his head, or sticking out at right angles to the earth and even, in the writer’s words, sometimes “at left angles.”

At this point, the letter asked if being upside down, standing on their heads, was when people would fall in love and do other foolish things. Einstein probably never answered this letter (as far as is known), but he did scribble in the margin his thoughts on the matter:

“Sich verlieben ist gar nicht das Dümmste, was der Mensch tut - die Gravitation kann aber nicht dafür verantwortlich gemacht werden.”1

As given in Albert Einstein, the Human Side this translates as:

“Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do, but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it.”

Variations in translation seen elsewhere, include: “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”

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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: 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)

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