Einstein's Last Thoughts
Einstein: the life and times by Ronald W.
Clark, World Pub. Co. , NY, 1971, p. 622
Just as he dotted the i's and crossed the t's of his scientific beliefs
during the last year or so of his life, so did he recapitulate his
religious convictions. To Dr. Douglas he stated: "If I were not a Jew I
would be a Quaker." And in an interview with Professor William Hermanns,
he said: "I cannot
accept any concept of God based on the fear of life or
the fear of death or blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no
personal God, but if I were to speak of him I would be a liar."
As to what one could believe in, the answer was simple enough. "I
believe in the brotherhood of man and the uniqueness of the individual.
But if you ask me to prove what I believe, I can't. You know them to be
true but you could spend a whole lifetime without being able to prove
them. The mind can proceed only so far upon what it knows and can prove.
There comes a point where the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge, but
can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such
a leap."
Editorial comments in this section on Einstein are by
Prof. Arnold V. Lesikar, Physics Dept., St. Cloud State University, St.
Cloud, MN 56301-4498. He would appreciate any feedback or comments.
lesikar@stcloudstate.edu
