Einstein on Militarism, Patriotism, War

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

from "The World As I See It," 1933

My pacifism is an instinctive feeling that possesses me because the murder of men is disgusting. My attitude is not derived from any intellectual theory but is based on my deepest antipathy to every kind of cruelty and hatred.

Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.

Einstein on Social Justice

My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude...

from "The World As I See It," 1931

Einstein on Materialism

The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

from "The World As I See It," 1931