Albert Einstein Quotes as Wall Art: 10 Prints for a Study or Office
Einstein is the most misquoted scientist alive or dead. Somewhere between a third and a half of the lines on the internet with his name attached were never said by him, and a good few of them contradict things he actually wrote. So this list is deliberately conservative. Nine of the ten below are securely his, in letters, interviews and essays; the one that is not is flagged as such, the same way it is flagged on the product page.
Because Einstein wrote and spoke in German for most of his life, several prints carry the German original with an English line beneath. The English-only ones are quotes he gave to American journalists late in life, which is where a lot of the best-known lines come from.
For the study: curiosity and thinking
1. Ich habe keine besondere Begabung, sondern bin nur leidenschaftlich neugierig
Ich habe keine besondere Begabung, sondern bin nur leidenschaftlich neugierig.
I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious.
From a 1952 letter to his biographer Carl Seelig. It is the sentence people put above a desk because it takes the pressure off: not genius, just curiosity, applied for a long time. The German is slightly more modest than the usual English rendering.
Where it belongs: Study or home office. The German line is long, so a landscape size or one of the wider designs suits it.
2. Imagination is more important than knowledge
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
From a 1929 interview with the Saturday Evening Post. Einstein went on to say that knowledge is limited while imagination 'embraces the entire world'. It is short enough to set very large, which is probably why it has become the default Einstein print.
Where it belongs: A child's room, a classroom, a studio. Six words that hold up at 24x36.
3. The important thing is not to stop questioning
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
Said to a LIFE magazine writer in 1955, months before he died, in a piece about advice for young people. The second sentence, 'Curiosity has its own reason for existing', is the one worth keeping in view: you do not need a purpose to be curious.
Where it belongs: Study, library, or a teenager's wall. It pairs well with number 1.
4. It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer
It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.
The least glamorous and most useful thing Einstein said about how he worked. It gets framed by people who grind: postgraduate students, engineers, anyone whose job is to sit with a hard thing until it gives.
Where it belongs: Above a desk, plainly. A monospaced or typewriter design suits the tone.
5. Autoritätsdusel ist der größte Feind der Wahrheit
Autoritätsdusel ist der größte Feind der Wahrheit.
Blind reverence for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Written in 1901, when he was twenty-two and unemployed, in a letter to a family friend. 'Autoritätsdusel' is untranslatable; it means something like a woozy, unthinking reverence for authority. That a young patent clerk with no job wrote it makes it better.
Where it belongs: Office, especially one where people are supposed to question things. Also good in a lab.
For the office: how to work and what for
6. Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value
Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.
From the same 1955 LIFE conversation. Einstein's original wording was 'man of success', and both forms are in circulation; we carry both, and this is the one people tend to choose for a shared office. It is a sentence about what to optimise for.
Where it belongs: Reception area, meeting room, or the wall behind a monitor. Works at every size.
7. Das Schönste, was wir erleben können, ist das Geheimnisvolle
Das Schönste, was wir erleben können, ist das Geheimnisvolle. Es ist das Grundgefühl, das an der Wiege von wahrer Kunst und Wissenschaft steht.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
The opening of a short essay on his outlook, written around 1930 and later collected in Mein Weltbild. The second sentence names the mysterious as the source of all true art and science, which is why it hangs in studios as often as in laboratories.
Where it belongs: A studio, a science classroom, or a reading corner. Both sentences fit comfortably on a portrait print.
8. Wenige sind imstande, von den Vorurteilen der Umgebung abweichende Meinungen gelassen auszusprechen
Wenige sind imstande, von den Vorurteilen der Umgebung abweichende Meinungen gelassen auszusprechen; die Meisten sind sogar unfähig, überhaupt zu solchen Meinungen zu gelangen.
Few are capable of calmly expressing opinions that differ from the prejudices of their surroundings; most are even incapable of forming such opinions at all.
From the essays collected in Mein Weltbild. Einstein's point is not that most people are cowards but that most people cannot even form an opinion that differs from the room. It is a bracing thing to read before a meeting.
Where it belongs: A private office rather than a shared one. Let it be a reminder, not a rebuke.
9. Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
One of Einstein's many public statements on pacifism from the early 1930s, before the rise of Hitler forced him to revise his position on the use of force. It survives as a general principle rather than a policy, which is how most people use it.
Where it belongs: A hallway, a shared living space, or a classroom. A quiet typeface, not a shouty one.
10. A ship is always safe at shore, but that is not what it is built for
A ship is always safe at shore, but that is not what it is built for.
This one is often attributed to Einstein, and we have not found it in his letters or published writing, so the product page grades it accordingly. It is a good line regardless, and if you want it on a wall you should know where it stands.
Where it belongs: A startup office, a boat, a room belonging to someone about to leave home.
Choosing a design for an Einstein print
Einstein prints tend to look best in the plainer designs. A heavy grotesque or a clean serif in black on white reads like a page from a notebook, which suits the material. The script and decorative layouts are better kept for poetry. If you are hanging two, choose the same design and size for both so they read as a pair: numbers 1 and 3 above, or 6 and 8, make natural sets.
How the prints work
Every quote on thequote.shop is an instant PDF download. Pick the design you like from up to 20 typographic layouts, choose a size (eight options from 5x7 to 24x36, plus A4), and the file is ready the moment your order goes through. Print it at home on good card stock, or send it to a local print shop for a heavier paper and a crisp finish. Frames are your call; the sizes are standard so off-the-shelf frames fit.
Browse the full set in the Albert Einstein prints collection.
The German-language originals also appear in the German quotes collection.