“I see a clock, but I cannot envision the clockmaker. The human mind is unable to conceive of the four dimensions, so how can it conceive of a God, before whom a thousand years and a thousand dimensions are as one?”

—  Albert Einstein

From Cosmic Religion: with Other Opinions and Aphorisms (1931), Albert Einstein, pub. Covici-Friede. Quoted in The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press; 2nd edition (May 30, 2000); Page 208, ISBN 0691070210
1930s

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update March 25, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I see a clock, but I cannot envision the clockmaker. The human mind is unable to conceive of the four dimensions, so ho…" by Albert Einstein?
Albert Einstein photo
Albert Einstein702
German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativi… 1879–1955

Related quotes

Albert Einstein photo

“No man can visualize four dimensions, except mathematically … I think in four dimensions, but only abstractly. The human mind can picture these dimensions no more than it can envisage electricity. Nevertheless, they are no less real than electro-magnetism, the force which controls our universe, within, and by which we have our being.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

1920s, Viereck interview (1929)

Abraham Lincoln photo

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

Recollection by Gilbert J. Greene, quoted in The Speaking Oak (1902) by Ferdinand C. Iglehart and Latest Light on Abraham Lincoln (1917) by Ervin S. Chapman
Posthumous attributions

Vladimir Nabokov photo

“I cannot conceive how anybody in his right mind should go to a psychoanalyst.”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

Andrei Tarkovsky photo

“It is obvious that art cannot teach anyone anything, since in four thousand years humanity has learnt nothing at all.”

Andrei Tarkovsky book Sculpting in Time

Source: Sculpting in Time (1986), p. 50

Johannes Tauler photo

“The mystery of our union with God affected by the Eucharist, is a union more intimate than the human mind can conceive.”

Johannes Tauler (1300–1361) German theologian

Sermons, From Our Daily Bread

Anselm of Canterbury photo

“God was conceived of a most pure Virgin … it was fitting that the virgin should be radiant with a purity so great that a greater purity cannot be conceived.”

Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) Benedictine monk, philosopher, and prelate

In Mary for Earth and Heaven: Essays on Mary and Ecumenism http://books.google.com/books?id=Dx4WrfzZMsoC&pg=PA116&dq=%22it+was+fitting+that+the+virgin+should+be+radiant+with+a+purity+so+great%22&hl=en&ei=ELNATrLoCIXMsQLbsvmuCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22it%20was%20fitting%20that%20the%20virgin%20should%20be%20radiant%20with%20a%20purity%20so%20great%22&f=false, 2002, William McLaughlin, Jill Pinnock, eds., Gracewing, ISBN 0852445563 ISBN 9780852445563pp. 115-116.

Joseph Joubert photo

“Perhaps (and probably) it would be true to say that we cannot conceive of anything except what we can see in our minds.”

Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French moralist and essayist

Kurien Kunnumpuram photo

“It [Vatican II] does not look upon the ‘religious’ as one dimension among other dimensions of human existence. The religious dimension intersects with other dimensions. That is why the Council could speak of ‘the supremely human character’ of the Church’s religious mission.”

Kurien Kunnumpuram (1931–2018) Indian theologian

Kunnumpuram, K. (2005) Towards a New Humanity: Reflections on the Church's Mission in India Today. Mumbai: St Pauls
On the Church

Robert Fulghum photo

“The older I get, the more I realize the importance of exercising the various dimensions of my body, soul, mind and heart. Taken together, these aspects give me a sense of wholeness. I want to be a whole human being rather than one who limps on one leg because I don't know how to use all of my parts. Intellectual, emotional, and physical activity are not separate entities. Rather, they are dimensions of the same human being.”

Robert Fulghum (1937) American writer

"Pay Attention" in Handbook for the Soul (1995) edited by Benjamin Shield

Muhammad Ali photo

“If my mind can conceive it; and my heart can believe it — then I can achieve it.”

Muhammad Ali book The Soul of a Butterfly

Similar to a quote by Jesse Jackson, which is in turn a modification of a quote by Napoleon Hill: "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
Misattributed
Source: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey

Related topics