When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute and it's longer than any hour. That's relativity.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Einstein uses a simple analogy to explain relativity through time perception.
- In plain terms
- Time feels faster when you are happy and slower when you are in pain.
- What can you take from it?
- Subjective experience distorts our sense of time.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When has time felt strange to you?
- How does emotion change time?
Another view
This analogy simplifies complex physics concepts.
More from Albert Einstein
Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity.
Permalink to quote #70 Paraphrased variant: Put your hand on a hot stove and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.
Permalink to quote #72 That is simple my friend: because politics is more difficult than physics.
Permalink to quote #69
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Paraphrased variant: Put your hand on a hot stove and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.
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