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    Cover of Mein Weltbild

    Mein Weltbild

    Albert Einstein, Neil Berger · 1934

    A fascinating collection of Einstein’s observations about life, religion, nationalism, and a host of personal topics that engaged the genius’s intellect In the aftermath of the First World War, Albert Einstein writes about his hopes for the League of Nations, his feelings as a German citizen about the growing anti-Semitism and nationalism of his country, and his myriad opinions about the current affairs of his day. In addition to these political perspectives, The World As I See It reveals the idealistic, spiritual, and witty side of this great intellectual as he approaches topics including “Good and Evil,” “Religion and Science,” “Active Pacifism,” “Christianity and Judaism,” and “Minorities.” Including letters, speeches, articles, and essays written before 1935, this collection offers a complete portrait of Einstein as a humanitarian and as a human being trying to make sense of the changing world around him. This authorized Philosophical Library ebook features a new introduction by Neil Berger, PhD, and an illustrated biography of Albert Einstein, which includes rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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    What Hacker News says

    1. danielheathMay 2021
      > Is it OK to feel loyalty for a nation, then?

      Einstein had some rather famous words on the topic in (his 1931 essay, Mein Weltbild)[https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/37851/did-einst...]:

      > “He who joyfully marches to music rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder.”

      thread
    2. jharohitAug 2016
      My German friends had suggested that I read "Mein Weltbild" as it contains a lot of the worldview of Einstein. I tried to look up the English edition for it (now published by a major American publishing house) and it seems like a lot of content on "politics, fascism, Judaism, peace and science" is missing!

      Anyone knows where to get an unabridged english version of the book?

      thread
    3. contingenciesJun 2013
      What is the meaning of human life, or, for that matter, of the life of any creature? To know an answer to this question means to be religious.

      You ask: Does it make any sense, then, to pose this question?

      I answer: The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life.

      - Einstein (as quoted in Mein Weltbild, Amsterdam: Querido Verlag, 1934)

      thread

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