By an application of the theory of relativity to the taste of readers, today in Germany I am called a German man of science, and in England I am represented as a Swiss Jew. If I come to be represented as a bete noire, the descriptions will be reversed, and I shall become a Swiss Jew for the Germans and a German man of science for the English! (To The Times (London), November 28, 1919, quoted in The New Quotable Einstein by Alice Calaprice, 2005, ISBN 0-691-12075-7)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Public perception of the speaker shifts based on nationality and political context.
- In plain terms
- People judge him differently depending on their own politics.
- What can you take from it?
- National bias shapes how science is perceived.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How does nationality affect credibility?
- Why do we label people by origin?
Another view
Not all public figures face such extreme reversal of labels.
More from Albert Einstein
Whether you can observe a thing or not depends on the theory which you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed.
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