Find out Albert Einstein critical thinking tips gathered from his books, interviews, lectures, and letters.
Albert Einstein was one of the greatest minds of the 20th century.
After Einstein died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm, his brain attracted a lot of attention because of his reputation as one of the foremost geniuses of the 20th century.
There is a story about how his brain was taken away without permission by a pathologist, carved into 240 pieces and preserved in celloidin.
His thought experiments, known as Gedankenexperiments in German, used conceptual and not actual experiments to come up with groundbreaking theories.
In addition, according to his wife Elsa, music helped Einstein when he was thinking about his theories.
He would go to his study, come back, strike a few chords on the piano, jot something down, then return to his study.
Albert Einstein Critical Thinking
Now, let’s find out Albert Einstein critical thinking methods and the use of his super brain to achieve ground-breaking scientific discoveries.
“By painful experience we have learned that rational thinking does not suffice to solve the problems of our social life.” – Albert Einstein
“Wir haben es aber schmerzlich erleben müssen, dass rationales Denken allein die Probleme des sozialen Lebens keineswegs zu lösen vermag.” (German)
(Ideas And Opinions By Albert Einstein, Based On Mein Weltbild, Edited By Carl Seelig, And Other Sources, New Translations And Revisions By Sonja Bargmann, New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1954, Part II: On Politics, Government, And Pacifism, A Message To Intellectuals, P. 148) source
(The quote is also found in: Einstein On Peace Edited By Otto Nathan And Heinz Norden, Avenel Books, 1968, P. 493) source
Note: From the message to the Peace Congress of Intellectuals at Wroclaw, never delivered, but published in The New York Times, August 29, 1948, Page1.
“The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe.” – Albert Einstein
(Glimpses Of The Great By George Sylvester Viereck, London: Duckworth, 1930, P. 373) source
“…a new type of thinking is essential… if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.” – Albert Einstein
“…Eine neue Art von Denken ist notwendig, wenn die Menschheit weiterleben will.” (German)
(Atomic Education Urged By Einstein: Scientist In Plea For $200,000 To Promote New Type of Essential, New York Times, 25 May 1946) source
(The full article is found here.)
(The quote is also found in: The Real Problem Is In The Hearts Of Man” By Michael Amrine, The New York Times Magazine, 23 June 1946) source
(The full article is found here.)
Note: To know more about this event, you can read about in: Chapter Eleven: The Gitt/Einstein Letters.
“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking…” – Albert Einstein
“Die entfesselte Kraft des Atoms hat alles außer unsere Denkweisen verändert…“ (German)
(Atomic Education Urged By Einstein: Scientist In Plea For $200,000 To Promote New Type of Essential, New York Times, 25 May 1946) source
(The full article is found here.)
“I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich denke überhaupt sehr selten in Worten. Ein Gedanke kommt, und ich kann hinterher versuchen, ihn in Worten auszudrücken.” (German)
(Productive Thinking By Max Wertheimer, New York: Harper & Row, 1971, P. 228) source
Note: The quote is from a conversation with psychologist Max Wertheimer in 1916. It was reported in Max Wertheimer’s book as mentioned above.
“Science is never finished because the human mind only uses a small portion of its capacity, and man’s exploration of his world is also limited.” – Albert Einstein
(Einstein and the Poet: In Search of the Cosmic Man By William Hermanns, Brookline Village, MA: Branden Press, 1983, First conversation (1930), P. 14) source
“What a betrayal of man’s dignity. He uses the highest gift, his mind, only ten percent, and his emotions and instincts ninety percent.” – Albert Einstein
(Einstein And The Poet: In Search Of The Cosmic Man By William Hermanns, Brookline Village, MA: Branden Press, 1983, First Conversation (1930), P. 31) source
“I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.” – Albert Einstein
“Ich denke niemals an die Zukunft. Sie kommt früh genug.” (German)
(Grab-Bag: Words Of Wisdom, Mansfield News Journal, Saturday, November 13, 1937, P. 4) source
Note: The quote was originally from a newspaper (Clearfield Progress) article, written by David P. Sentner in December 12, 1930.
“Body and soul are not two different things, but only two different ways of perceiving the same thing. Similarly, physics and psychology are only different attempts to link our experiences together by way of systematic thought.” – Albert Einstein
“Körper und Seele sind nicht zwei verschiedene Dinge, sondern nur zwei Arten, dasselbe Ding wahrzunehmen. Entsprechend sind Physik und Psychologie nur zwei verschiedenartige Versuche, unsere Erlebnisse auf dem Weg systemtischen Denkens miteinander zu verknupfen.” (German)
(Albert Einstein, The Human Side: New Glimpses From His Archives Selected By Helen Dukas And Banesh Hoffmann, Princeton University Press, 1981, P. 38) source
(The quote in German is found in: Albert Einstein, The Human Side: New Glimpses From His Archives Selected By Helen Dukas And Banesh Hoffmann, Princeton University Press, 1981, P. 132) source
“For the essential in the being of a man of my type lies precisely in what he thinks and how he thinks, not in what he does or suffers.” – Albert Einstein
“Denn Das Wesentliche im Dasein eines Menschen von meiner Art liegt in dem was er denkt und wie er denkt, nicht in dem, was er tut oder erleidet.” (German)
(Albert Einstein: Autobiographical Notes Translated And Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Open Court, 1949, P. 31) source
(The quote is also found in: Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, Volume 1, Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Open Court Press, 1970, P. 33) source
(The quote in German is found in: Autobiographical Notes By Albert Einstein, Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Open Court, 1949, P. 30) source
(The quote in German is also found in: Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, Volume 1, Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, UK: Tudor Publishing Company, 1957, P. 32) source
“Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world. All knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it.” – Albert Einstein
“Durch bloßes logisches Denken vermögen wir keinerlei Wissen über die Erfahrungswelt zu erlangen; alles Wissen über die Wirklichkeit geht von der Erfahrung aus und mündet in ihr.” (German)
(Ideas And Opinions By Albert Einstein, Based On Mein Weltbild, Edited By Carl Seelig, And Other Sources, New Translations And Revisions By Sonja Bargmann, New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1954, Part V: Contributions To Science, On The Method Of Theoretical Physics, The Herbert Spencer lecture, Delivered At Oxford, June 10, 1933. Published In Mein Weltbild, Amsterdam: Querida Verlag, 1934, P. 271) source
(The quote is also found in: Essays In Science By Albert Einstein, New York: Open Road Media, 2011, On The Methods Of Theoretical Physics) source
(The quote in German is found in: Mein Weltbild Von Albert Einstein, Herausgegeben Von Carl Seelig, Ullstein-Taschenbuch-Verlag 2005, Zur Methodik Der Theoretischen Physik, P. 114) source
“…the essential in the being of a man of my type lies precisely in what he thinks and how he thinks, not in what he does or suffers.” – Albert Einstein
“Das Wesentliche im Dasein eines Menschen von meiner Art liegt in dem, was er denkt und wie er denkt, nicht in dem, was er tut oder erleidet.” (German)
(Albert Einstein: Creator And Rebel By Banesh Hoffmann With The Colloboration Of Helen Dukas, New York: New American Library, 1973, P. 12) source
(The quote in German is found in: Autobiographical Notes By Albert Einstein, Translated And Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Open Court, 1949, P. 30) source
(The quote in German is also found in: Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist, Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Tudor Publishing Company, 1957, P. 32) source
“…in thinking, we use with a certain “right,” concepts to which there is no access from the materials of sensory experience if the situation is viewed from a logical point of view.” – Albert Einstein
“…wir uns mit gewisser “Berechtigung” beim Denken solcher Begriffe bediene, zu welchen es keinen Zugang aus dem sinnlichen Erfahrung Material gibt, wenn man die Sachlage vom logischen Standpunkte aus betrachtet.” (German)
(The Philosophy Of Bertrand Russell Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, The Library Of Living Philosophers, Inc., 1946, Ch. 8. Albert Einstein: Remarks On Bertrand Russell’s Theory Of Knowledge, P. 287) source
(The quote in German is found in: Mein Weltbild. Hrsg. von Carl Seelig By Albert Einstein, Europa Verlag, 1953, P. 46) source
(Another source of the quote in German is found in: The Philosophy of Bertrand Russell By Bertrand Russell, Northwestern University, 1944, P. 284) source
(The second part of the quote is found here.)
“We do things with our mind, even in our everyday life, for which we are not responsible. The mind acknowledges realities outside of it, independent of it.” – Albert Einstein
(Einstein And Tagore Plumb The Truth; Scientist And Poet Exchange Thoughts On The Possibility Of Its Existence Without Relation To Humanity By Dmitri Marianoff, Aug. 10, 1930, P. T2) source
(The quote is found in the full article over here.)
(The full article is also found here.)
Note: Conversation between Albert Einstein and poet Rabindranath Tagore, on July 14, 1930.
“The development of this world of thought is in a certain sense a continuous flight from wonder.” – Albert Einstein
“Die Entwicklung dieser Gedankenwelt ist in gewissem Sinn eine beständige Flucht aus dem Wunder.” (German)
(Albert Einstein: Autobiographical Notes Translated And Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Open Court, 1949, P. 9) source
(The quote in German is found in: Albert Einstein: Autobiographical Notes Translated And Edited By Paul Arthur Schilpp, New York: Open Court, 1949, P. 8) source
“The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought.” – Albert Einstein
(An Essay On The Psychology of Invention In the Mathematical Field By Jacques Hadamar, New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1945, A Testimonial From Professor Einstein, (A), Appendix II) source
Note: From the letter to Jacques Hadamard, June 17, 1944.
“Thinking for its own sake is like music!” – Albert Einstein
“Das Denken um seiner selbst willen wie die Musik!” (German)
(The Collected Papers Of Albert Einstein, Volume 8, The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1914-1918 (English Translation Supplement), Translated By Ann M. Hentschel, Doc. 597, To Heinrich Zangger, Ahrenshoop, before 11 August 1918, P. 622) source
(The German quote is found in: The Collected Papers Of Albert Einstein, Volume 8, Part B: The Berlin Years: Correspondence, 1918, Edited By Robert Schulmann, A. J. Kox, Michel Janssen, and József Illy, Doc. 597, To Heinrich Zangger, Ahrenshoop, before 11 August 1918, P. 850) source
“I admit that thoughts influence the body.” – Albert Einstein
(The Ultimate Quotable Einstein Collected And Edited By Alice Calaprice, With A Foreword By Freeman Dyson, Princeton University Press, 2010, On Miscellaneous Subjects, Miracles, P. 443) source
“…I probed deeper into the problem than an ordinary child would have done.” – Albert Einstein
“…ich dann tiefer in die Problematik eindringen als ein gewöhnliches Kind.” (German)
(Albert Einstein: A Documentary Biography By Carl Seelig, London: Staples Press, 1956, P. 71) source
(The quote in German is found in: Albert Einstein: Eine Biographie By Albrecht Fölsing, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1993, P. 25) source
“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
“Wenn ich mich und meine Denkmethoden untersuche, komme ich zum Schluß, daß die Gabe der Phantasie mir mehr bedeutet hat als mein Talent, gesichertes Wissen Zu absorbieren.” (German)
(Einstein: The Life And Times By Ronald W. Clark, Harper Collins Publishers, 1994, Part Two: The Voyage Of Discovery, Ch. 4, Einstein’s Relativity, P. 118) source
(The quote in German is found in: Imagination und Kreativität Edited By Gottlieb Guntern, Gerald M. Edelman, New York-Berlin-Zurich: Scalo, 1995, P. 42) source
Note: From the remark Einstein told Janos Plesch.
“All our thinking is of the nature of a free play with concepts.” – Albert Einstein
(Einstein, History, And Other Passions: The Rebellion Against Science At The End Of The Twentieth Century By Gerald James Holton, Harvard University Press, 2000, What Precisely Is Thinking? Einsteins Answer, Free Play With Concepts, P. 199) source
Note: All the above Albert Einstein critical thinking advice quoted from reliable sources.
*Here is a great list of authentic Albert Einstein creative and curiosity tips quotations.