Albert Einstein

1879–1955 · Theoretical physicist

Albert Einstein reshaped physics with special and general relativity and won the 1921 Nobel Prize. He genuinely valued simplicity in theory — in 1933 he urged making “the irreducible basic elements as simple… as possible” — which is exactly why crisp slogans about explaining things simply get pinned on him. As the internet’s single biggest ‘quotation magnet,’ he attracts feel-good lines he never wrote, this one among them.

Traced to source

6 quotes we’ve traced to Albert Einstein

Not actually Albert Einstein

Often misattributed to Albert Einstein

Famous lines widely pinned on Albert Einstein that we’ve traced to someone else.

On the research bench

Commonly pinned on Albert Einstein — under review

4 lines flagged as pinned on Albert Einstein and queued for a full source trace — not yet verified.

Did they really say it?

Thought Albert Einstein said something else?

Type a quote you think Albert Einstein said — we’ll tell you what we know, or point you to the best sources.