“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.”

—  Albert Einstein

The quote "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a t…" is famous quote attributed to Albert Einstein (1879–1955), German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity.

Actually written by E. F. Schumacher in a 1973 essay titled "Small is Beautiful" which appeared in The Radical Humanist: volume 37, p. 22 http://books.google.com/books?id=oA0IAQAAIAAJ&q=%22more+violent%22#search_anchor. Earliest published source found on Google Books attributing this to Einstein is BMJ: The British Medical Journal, volume 319, 23 October 1999, p. 1102 http://books.google.com/books?id=bQk7AQAAIAAJ&q=%22more+violent%22#search_anchor. It was attributed to Einstein on the internet somewhat before that, for example in this 1997 post http://groups.google.com/group/alt.weemba/msg/2bbf56ab8f4f757d?hl=en.
Misattributed

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update April 18, 2023. History

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Albert Einstein 702
German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativi… 1879–1955

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“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.”

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"Anarchism Against Riots" (7 August 2011). <!-- http://www.steampunkshariah.info/?p=11668#more-11668 -->
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Context: Riots may be symptoms of a deeper socio-political malaise: the product of unjust government policy and racist policing. I know from friends I have spoken to who were participants in the 1981 Brixton riots, that riots can engender a great deal of local solidarity against an oppressive State. But I am far from convinced that energy spent doing damage to life, limb and property is likely to prove more productive than properly thought-out and planned non-violent direct action.
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