“The most important tool of the theoretical physicist is his wastebasket.”

—  Albert Einstein

Told by P. Morrison
Attributed in posthumous publications, Albert Einstein: A guide for the perplexed (1979)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The most important tool of the theoretical physicist is his wastebasket." by Albert Einstein?
Albert Einstein photo
Albert Einstein 702
German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativi… 1879–1955

Related quotes

Jay Samit photo

“The most important tool you have on a resume is language.”

Jay Samit (1961) American businessman

Source: Disrupt You! (2015), p. 65

Carl Menger photo

“The solution of the most important problems of the theoretical social sciences in general and of theoretical economics in particular is thus, closely connected with the question of theoretically understanding the origin and change of 'organically' created social structures.”

Carl Menger (1840–1921) founder of the Austrian School of economics

Source: Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences, 1883, p. 147

Zig Ziglar photo

“The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.”

Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American motivational speaker

As quoted in Refining Your Style : Learning from Respected Communicators (2004) by Dave Stone, p. 143

“Numbers instill a feeling for the lie of the land, and furnish grist for the mathematical mill that is the physicist's principal tool.”

Hans Christian von Baeyer (1938) American physicist

Source: Information, The New Language of Science (2003), Chapter 6, The Book of Life, Genetic information, p. 48

“The most important thing about organizations is that, though they are tools, each nevertheless has a life of its own.”

Philip Selznick (1919–2010) American sociologist

Source: TVA and the grass roots : a study in the sociology of formal organization, 1949, p. 10

Bertrand Russell photo

“The theoretical understanding of the world, which is the aim of philosophy, is not a matter of great practical importance to animals, or to savages, or even to most civilized men.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

Source: 1910s, Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays http://archive.org/stream/mysticism00russuoft/mysticism00russuoft_djvu.txt (1918), Ch. 1: Mysticism and Logic

Victor Frederick Weisskopf photo

“Self-confidence is an important ingredient that makes for a successful physicist.”

Victor Frederick Weisskopf (1908–2002) Austrian-born American theoretical physicist

[Victor Weisskopf, Growing up with quantum field theory: The development of quantum electrodynamics. In: The birth of particle physics (ed. L.M. Brown and L. Hoddeson), Cambridge University Press, 1983, 75]

Arthur Stanley Eddington photo

“Our environment may and should mean something towards us which is not to be measured with the tools of the physicist or described by the metrical symbols of the mathematician.”

Arthur Stanley Eddington (1882–1944) British astrophysicist

IV, p.47
Science and the Unseen World (1929)

Steve Jobs photo

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

2005-09, Address at Stanford University (2005)
Context: Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

“His epistemology began from a phenomenalist base. The philosopher and physicist Ernst Mach was very important in Hayek’s development and to the atmosphere at the University of Vienna when Hayek was a student there.”

Alan O. Ebenstein (1959) American political scientist, educator and author

Hayek's Journey: The Mind of Friedrich Hayek (2003)

Related topics