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Who really said it

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler

Not Einstein's wording — a 1950 paraphrase by Roger Sessions Roger Sessions 1896–1985 · American composer
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

Writing in The New York Times on 8 January 1950, the composer Roger Sessions said Einstein had remarked “in effect, that everything should be as simple as it can be but not simpler.” The words ‘in effect’ mark it plainly as a paraphrase. Five months later Louis Zukofsky printed the same line inside quotation marks and credited it straight to Einstein — and that is the version the world kept.

Last verified 20 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. —Albert Einstein, Herbert Spencer Lecture, Oxford, 1933 (the popular short form is a 1950 paraphrase by Roger Sessions)

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Albert Einstein. Use the credit shown above instead.

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We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Albert Einstein — theoretical physicist. Theme: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

What Einstein actually said

Einstein's real sentence
Herbert Spencer Lecture, Oxford, 10 June 1933
The paraphrase
Roger Sessions, The New York Times, 8 January 1950
Hardened into a quotation
Louis Zukofsky, Poetry, June 1950
Credited to
Albert Einstein, 1879–1955

It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience. Oxford lecture, 1933

Einstein’s actual sentence from the 1933 Herbert Spencer Lecture. Same idea — nothing like the aphorism’s compactness, which is Sessions’ contribution, not his.

Quote Investigator — the 1950 paraphrase traced with page numbers

How we traced it

  • Roger Sessions, ‘How a “Difficult” Composer Gets That Way,’ The New York Times, 8 January 1950 — reports that Einstein said ‘in effect, that everything should be as simple as it can be but not simpler.’ The hedge is in the original Quote Investigator ↗.
  • Louis Zukofsky, reviewing in Poetry (June 1950), printed ‘Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler’ in quotation marks, credited directly to Einstein — the moment a paraphrase became a quotation full trace ↗.
  • Einstein’s own statement of the idea, from his Herbert Spencer Lecture at Oxford on 10 June 1933, runs to thirty-eight words and never uses the aphorism’s snap. Wikiquote lists the short form only as attributed sourced vs attributed ↗.

Layered. Einstein’s 1933 lecture text was published in 1933 — public domain in the EU/UK since 1 January 2026, with US status depending on renewal (potentially protected to 2029). Sessions’ 1950 New York Times article and Zukofsky’s 1950 Poetry review are both within the US copyright window. Quote any of them as a short excerpt with citation rather than reproducing at length. This is not legal advice.

Fact-check

The attribution problem

This one is unusually well documented, because the paraphrase and its conversion into a quotation happened five months apart in print, and both are dated.

Roger Sessions (1950) paraphrase presented as quotation

Sessions wrote that Einstein said it ‘in effect’ — an explicit signal that he was summarising, not quoting. That qualifier was dropped by everyone who repeated it trace ↗.

Louis Zukofsky (1950) converted to a direct quote

Months later Zukofsky printed the sentence in quotation marks and credited Einstein directly. Once a paraphrase acquires quotation marks in print, it is effectively impossible to reel back in.

The 1933 Oxford lecture much longer

His actual formulation is a thirty-eight-word sentence about making basic elements ‘as simple and as few as possible’ without surrendering the representation of experience — the same thought, none of the same words sourced text ↗.

The idea is genuinely Einstein’s; the sentence is Roger Sessions’ 1950 paraphrase, promoted to a quotation by Louis Zukofsky the same year full trace ↗.

Context

Why it resonates

It is a better sentence than the one Einstein wrote — which is exactly why it won. The ‘but not simpler’ turn does real work: it guards against the lazy reading that simplicity alone is the goal, and it does so in four words.

That is also the trap. A paraphrase that improves on the original is the hardest kind to dislodge, because everyone who repeats it feels they are being faithful to the thought.

Sessions wrote that Einstein said it "in effect." Everyone since has dropped the hedge.

The three stages, 1933 to 1950

Einstein, Oxford 1933: ‘…to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.’

Sessions, NYT, 8 Jan 1950: Einstein said ‘in effect, that everything should be as simple as it can be but not simpler.’

Zukofsky, Poetry, June 1950: ‘Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler’ — in quotation marks, credited to Einstein.

Modern form: ‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.’

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Simplicity Knowledge

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Everything Should Be Made as Simple as Possible, But Not Simplerquoteinvestigator.com

The full trace with page numbers: Sessions 1950 (‘in effect’), Zukofsky 1950 (in quotation marks), and Einstein’s 1933 original.
Albert Einstein — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Lists the aphorism under attributed/unsourced, separate from Einstein’s documented statements.

Popularly credited author

Why it gets pinned on Einstein

Albert Einstein

1879–1955 · theoretical physicist

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) really did argue for theoretical economy — that a theory should reduce to the fewest irreducible elements that still account for the evidence. That makes this aphorism unusually plausible: it is a fair compression of a view he genuinely held, which is precisely why it survived unchallenged for seventy years. The idea is his; the sentence is a composer’s.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source — Chicago

Sessions, Roger. “How a ‘Difficult’ Composer Gets That Way.” The New York Times, 8 January 1950, p. 89. Paraphrasing Albert Einstein.

MLA (9th ed.)

Sessions, Roger. “How a ‘Difficult’ Composer Gets That Way.” The New York Times, 8 Jan. 1950, p. 89.

APA (7th ed.)

Sessions, R. (1950, January 8). How a “difficult” composer gets that way. The New York Times, p. 89.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler’?” Last verified 20 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/everything-should-be-made-as-simple-as-possible-but-not

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