Albert Einstein’s genius is synonymous with precise equations and exacting individual work. This storyline denies his uncommon commitment to creativity, resilience and community. The language of science can be cold and exclusive but Einstein wrote passionately about his sense of social responsibility and the myth of certainty. In Germany, he lived through the apprehension of two World Wars which, along with physics, greatly shaped his outlook on the interconnectivity of things. He believed that tolerance, kinship, kindness and compassion were the best consolation amidst hardships and insecurity; a genius we can all access at any moment.
The World As I See It [excerpts]
by Albert Einstein
“How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.”
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