[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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