Original artwork, not a still
Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Three neat reversals, clutter to simplicity, discord to harmony, difficulty to opportunity, made it easy for the internet to hang them on the most famous scientist. Einstein's name sells a motivational poster; Wheeler's does not. The wording on the site is the popular Einstein form, but the original is a physicist's summary of how Einstein worked.
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In context
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This is almost certainly not Einstein's. Wikiquote files it under disputed Einstein quotes: the earliest source it finds is an interview with the physicist John Archibald Wheeler in Cosmic Search magazine (Fall 1979), describing Einstein's work as resting on three rules: out of clutter find simplicity, from discord make harmony, and in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. Wheeler did not say Einstein had stated them, and no source has been found showing Einstein did. Over the decades the rules were reworded and credited to Einstein directly.
Sources (1)
- Wikiquote: Albert EinsteinDisputed section, entry citing John Archibald Wheeler in Cosmic Search, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Fall 1979)Reference checked
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