[PW] Tracking down Albert Einstein quotes

Paul Zimmerman pzimmer at wcnet.org
Mon Jul 9 12:58:18 PDT 2007


Why is it so hard to find the actual citations for quotes by Einstein? 
It seemed likely that the famous "Imagination is more important than 
intelligence." was a simplification and there would be no exact 
citation, so I started with a more elaborate quote that seemed more 
realistic.

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful 
servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has 
forgotten the gift."

This gets LOTS of hits in Google and even in Google Books, but just 
about every one of them is without an actual reference. ONE book gives a 
sort of reference... "The Essential Guide to Doing Research  By Zina 
O'Leary" on page 2, it says "Einstein 1931, p. 97" -- but from what book?

http://books.google.com/books?id=D1ZWS2Wnk2QC&pg=PA2&ots=S-ExkxP-eL&dq=%22Intuitive+Mind%22+%22Sacred+Gift%22+%22forgotten+the+gift%22+Einstein+1931&sig=hYbDa2Kond3cJEwXe8jRWwRmfmg

But it's not possible to access the bibliography and see what work of 
Einstein she is referencing. So, I go to Amazon.com to try 'search 
inside the book' and it also doesn't give access to the bibliography. 
Then I go to the library and get a physical copy (lucky it was 
available) and there is NO work by Einstein listed in the bibliography! 
So what good is the page reference with no book?

And this is just the first one I've tried to research. How does one go 
about actually locating citations for quotes by Einstein when everyone 
just tosses off these things with no reliable references?


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