“The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or joy.”
Work
<b>NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.<br><br>“A magical, metaphysical realm ... Captivating, enchanting, delightful.” —<i>The New York Times</i><br></b><br><i>Einstein’s Dreams</i> is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, about time, relativity and physics. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. In one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. In another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. In another, time is a nightingale, sometimes trapped by a bell jar.<br><br>Now translated into thirty languages, <i>Einstein’s Dreams</i> has inspired playwrights, dancers, musicians, and painters all over the world. In poetic vignettes, it explores the connections between science and art, the process of creativity, and ultimately the fragility of human existence.
Quotes
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Alan Lightman
Canonical work source
“The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or joy.”
“Each time is true, but the truths are not the same.”
“But what is the past? Could it be, the firmness of the past is just illusion? Could the past be a kaleidoscope, a pattern of images that shift with each disturbance of a sudden breeze, a lau...”
“Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.”
“Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.”
“While people brood, time skips ahead without looking back.”
“And at the place where time stands still, one sees lovers kissing in the shadows of buildings, in a frozen embrace that will never let go. The loved one will never take his arms from where t...”
“If a person holds no ambitions in this world, he suffers unknowingly. If a person holds ambitions, he suffers knowingly, but very slowly.”