A quote attributed to the Nobel laureate is popular on the Internet: “There are only two ways to live life. The first - as if miracles do not exist. The second is as if there are only miracles around. ” We figured out whether the physicist said something like that.

The phrase of the presence in the life of miracles indicating the authorship of Einstein can be found at sites With selection quotes and aphorisms, in articles with winged phrases of physics and in motivational literature. Users of social networks are also shared by the statement ("VKontakte" Facebook*, Instagram*) And Platform blog.

Albert Einstein He died in 1955, and for almost 70 years that have passed since his death, all his well -known works, letters and other texts were carefully studied, most of them are digitized and published in the public domain. According to the testament of the physicist, a significant part of his archives was transmitted Jewish University in Jerusalem. Similar resources with digitized work and letters are created by employees Princeton University And California Technological University in the USA. Despite the fact that the disassembled statement is popular not only in the Russian -speaking, but also in English -speaking The Internet segment (in the formulation of “There ARENLY TWO WAYS to LIVE YOUR LIFE. One is as Throw Nothing IS A Miracle. The Other IS AS AVERYTHINGS A MIRACLE”), nor in one of these data bases It was not possible to detect such a “verified”.

In some Russian -speaking sources indicatedthat the quote was taken from Einstein's book, "The World I see him." It was first published on German language in 1934, and a year later translated to English. In none of these versions, it was not possible to find a disassembled quote or anything close to it in terms of meaning.

In 2011, Princeton University published a collection The Ultimate QUOTABLE EINSTEINin which the statements of the scientist are collected. The compilers also included in the book a section with quotes attributed to the scientist erroneously. Among them is a phrase about two ways to live life.

Portal The Quote Investigator, specializing in the study of authorship of common quotes, discovered that the statement of the Nobel laureate began to be attributed during his lifetime. American geographer Gilbert Fowler White In his notes of 1942 he mentioned this phrase, indicating as its author Einstein. It could be assumed that the physicist could pronounce these words in a conversation with White, since the scientists lived at the same time, but “verified” could not confirm that they were familiar. Therefore, it seems more likely that White was simply mistaken with the authorship of the quote.

Einstein regularly (and unprovenly) attribute aphorisms about life and science. To compete with a scientist in the number of quotes that dispersed under his name, but not belonging to him, maybe the American writer Mark Twain. “Verified” already disassembled the statements that were erroneously attributed to Einstein that “Only a fool needs order - genius dominates chaos","Only two things are endless: the universe and human stupidity" And "The biggest stupidity is to do the same and hope for another result".

Thus, there is no evidence that Einstein has any relation to the quote about two ways to live life, depending on the faith of a person in miracles. However, unlike many other similar cases, to attribute this statement to the Nobel laureate not on the Internet, but even during the life of a scientist.

*Russian authorities They think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns social networks Facebook and Instagram, an extremist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Photo on the cover: Archivo General de la NaciónPublic Domain, Via Wikimedia Commons