一个科学家的醒世箴言——爱因斯坦

Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921

这世界不会被那些作恶多端的人毁灭，而是冷眼旁观、选择保持缄默的人。
原文: The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil,but by those who watch them without doing anything.

照亮了我的道路的理想自始至终都是真、善、美，它们一次又一次给了我欣然面对生活的勇气。
原文：The ideals which have guided my way, and time after time have given me the energy to face life, have been kindness, beauty, and truth.

道德毫无神圣之处；皆因只是人之常情。
原文：There is nothing divine about morality；it is a purely human affair.

只要我还能有所选择，我就只想生活在这样的国家里，这个国家中所实行的是：公民、自由、宽容，以及在法律面前公民一律平等。公民自由意味着人们有用言语和文字表示其政治信念的自由；宽容意味着尊重别人可能有的任何信念。这些条件目前在德国都不存在。那些对国际谅解事业有特别重大贡献的人，在那里正受到迫害，其中就有一些是一流的艺术家。
原文：As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance and equality of all citizens before the law prevail. Civil liberty implies freedom to express one’s political convictions, in speech and in writing; tolerance implies respect for the convictions of others, whatever they may be. These conditions do not exist in Germany at the present time. Men, among them leading artists, who have made a particularly great contribution to the cause of international understanding, are being persecuted there.

后世大概不会相信，这样一个人（圣雄甘地）曾有血有肉地走在这地球上。
原文：Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.

如一个想法在最初并不荒谬，那它就没希望。
原文：If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.

很少人是用自己的眼睛去看见，和用自己的心去感受。
原文：Few are those who see with their own eyes, and feel with their own hearts.

在我看来，现在有许多人—甚至包括科学家—似乎都只是见树不见林。关于历史与哲学背景的知识，可以提供给那些大部分正受到当代偏颇观念所左右的科学家们一种不随波逐流的独立性。这种由哲学的洞察力所创造的独立性，依我来看，正是一个工匠或专家，与一个真正的真理追寻者之间，最大的区别。
原文：So many people today — and even professional scientists — seem to me like someone who has seen thousands of trees but has never seen a forest. A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is — in my opinion — the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth.

我每天提醒自己一百遍，我的生活，不管内在或是外在，都是以他人（包括活着的和逝去的）努力的成果为基础。所以我必须尽力奉献自己，希望能以同等的贡献，来回报长久以来从他人身上所获得的一切。
原文：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.

不要试图去做一个成功的人，要努力成为一个有价值的人。
原文:Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.

如果你不能简单说清楚，就是你没完全明白。
原文：If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.

任何一个有智力的笨蛋都可以把事情搞得更大，更复杂，也更激烈。往相反的方向前进则需要天分，以及很大的勇气。
原文：Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius— and a lot of courage— to move in the opposite direction.

一个从未犯错的人是因为他不曾尝试新鲜事物。
原文：Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

当我们的知识之圆扩大之时，我们所面临的未知的圆周也一样。
原文：As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.

常识就是人到十八岁为止所累积的各种偏见。
原文：Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

有一个现象的明显程度已经让我毛骨悚然，这便是我们的人性已经远远落后我们的科学技术了。
原文:It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

我信仰斯宾诺莎的上帝，他以宇宙的秩序与和谐来示现，而不是那个会干涉人类命运和行为的上帝。
原文:I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind .

在上帝面前，我们都一样聪明——也都一样愚蠢。
原文：Before God we are all equally wise— and equally foolish.

量子力学的确雄伟壮丽，然而内心却告诉我，它还不是那回事。这理论说了很多，却没引领我们更接近“上帝”的秘密。我，无论如何，深信上帝不掷骰子。
原文：Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the ‘old one’. I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.

上帝难以捉摸，但并不心怀恶意。
原文:Subtle is the Lord, but malicious He is not.

来源：维基语录