Logic will get you from A to B" – Einstein

Logic will get you from A to B" – Einstein

11875201_865524706850568_8228199852797499338_oTL;DR Summary

  • This poster comes through my FB feed frequently: “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you Everywhere”-Albert Einstein.
  • There is no evidence that Einstein ever said this.
  • These “popular sayings” posters appear often, tend to contain fictional quotes or quotes out of context, or quotes attributed to the wrong person.
  • From a propaganda perspective, they use appeal to authority or celebrity endorsement, but they often advocate nothing in particular. At best, they may be virtue-signaling of the creator or those who share the poster.


There is no evidence or record, anywhere, that Albert Einstein said this yet this poster often appears on Facebook.
As with our examples of fake quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Dalai Lama, and others, numerous fake quotes are attributed to famous people. In some cases these attributions are used as part of an “Appeal to authority” argument, or a “Celebrity endorsement”. The goal can be to persuade others of a claim or request an action – although some seem to be intended merely to persuade others that the person “sharing” is a smart, well educated, well read individual – who shares fake quotes! That’s virtue-signaling.

This is almost certainly a fake quote from Albert Einstein suggest these links:
http://hoaxes.org/…/com…/fake_einstein_quotation_paperweight
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/…/Arc…/Humanities/2007_September_29
The latter notes that Einstein mostly wrote in German, and English quotes attributed to him may have been changed through translation. Regardless, no one has yet found a record of this quote.
Re-posting these quotes on social media has the effect of turning a fake quote into a “fact”. As described in psychology experiments, our brain really does respond differently to the familiar, and repetition creates familiarity.
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