People constantly throw out this quote, accompanied by arbitrary attributions. With a little help from Quote Investigator, the problem becomes clear: no one knows who said it. The first reference found comes from an anonymous government researcher from 1968. “Getting older is about the mind. If you don`t mind, it doesn`t matter. Perhaps, like many people, you have already attributed this quote to Albert Einstein. You probably didn`t blink when you saw it at the beginning of the article. At least not me when an author from my old school newspaper submitted it. In fact, all of our editors had seen this quote attributed to Einstein in the past and hadn`t thought to dig deeper into it. However, when attentive readers came back to us and pointed out that there was little to no evidence that Einstein ever said this, we investigated and found that there was indeed a lively debate about the origins of this quote.
It has been attributed to all sorts of people: Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Confucius, an ancient Chinese proverb and the most famous Albert Einstein, but there is little to no evidence that any of them ever said such a thing. Albert Einstein was one of the most important scientific geniuses of the 20th century. His theories have helped scientists break down some of the barriers to our understanding of the physical world and the universe. He has also made significant contributions to the philosophy of science. Is it any wonder, then, that the quote is attributed to it as “the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”? Unfortunately, the Buzzkillers, quotes like this seem to attach themselves to Einstein at the speed of light, and there`s no evidence he ever said it. (By the way, two other Brainiacs and citation attractors, Ben Franklin and Mark Twain, are also credited with coining this idea.) Churchill never said that, according to the Churchill Centre and Museum in London. In fact, Paul Addison of the University of Edinburgh states: “Churchill certainly could not have used the words attributed to him. He was a conservative at 15 and a liberal at 35! And would he have spoken with such disrespect of Clemmi, who is generally considered a liberal all his life? One of Barnum`s biggest competitors and critics actually said that, according to “P.T. Barnum: The Legend And The Man,” a biography of A.H. Saxon. Becker attributed the original to Rita Mae Brown, the author of mystery novels. In her 1983 book “Sudden Death,” she attributed the quote to a fictional “Jane Fulton,” writing, “Unfortunately, Susan couldn`t remember what Jane Fulton once said.” Insanity means doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.
“If the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results, Australia`s war on drugs is madness in its purest form. Just saying no was a dismal failure. The law enforcement approach has neither deterred users nor made communities safer. It simply put lives at risk. Jill Stark Australian author, journalist and human rights activist An observation in her 2017 opinion piece on the Australian news and culture site SBS.com that seems to apply just as well to the “war on drugs” in the United States. Take, for example, these oft-repeated and reprinted quotes from Albert Einstein – none of which were really said by the great physicist: Dr. Manley, thank you so much for stopping and being inspired to leave a comment. Thank you for bringing clinical definitions to my attention. I correct myself! Since then, the quote has morphed into “Spirit over Matter.” Comedian Jack Benny said it on his 80th birthday. A South Carolina newspaper mentioned Twain in 1970.
And in 1981, Muhammad Ali handed the phrase to a journalist as he prepared for his last fight. “If the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different outcomes, then it is clear that we need a different approach to how we govern, how we make decisions and how we evaluate the world. Even though the world as a whole offers people far more rights and resources than ever before, when every bad thing that happens somewhere is brought to our attention every minute of the day, it`s hard to feel anything but insecurity. If our leaders simply react instead of setting an agenda and implementing it (including negotiations and compromises), things will only get worse. Bradley Tusk American businessman, political strategist and writer How the constant barrage of negative social media posts on sites like Twitter and Facebook hurts the American public and our country`s political process, he commented in his column on Observer.com “How can anyone be busy and accomplish nothing? Well, that`s the paradox of passion.