Read "The Ultimate Quotable Einstein" by Albert Einstein online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The way he often explained it, Einstein's "religion" was an attitude of cosmic awe and wonder and a devout humility before the harmony of nature, rather than a belief in a personal God who is able to control the lives of individuals. He referred to this belief as "cosmic religion. " It is incompatible with the doctrines of all theistic religions in its denial of a personal God who punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous. Einstein was an admirer of Spinoza, the seventeenth-century Dutch Jewish rationalist philosopher, whom the German Romantic poet Novalis called a "God-intoxicated man. " Because of Einstein's frequent reference to God, one might be tempted to think of him in this way as well. For a thorough discussion on Einstein's religion, see Jammer, Einstein and Religion. See also "Mysticism" in the "Miscellaneous" section.
Why do you write to me, "God should punish the English"? I have no close connection to either one or the other. I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of his children for their numerous stupidities, for which only he himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only his nonexistence could excuse him.