My highlights from the book: 

1. In a drama that would seem fake were it not so horrifying, Einstein’s brain ended up being, for more than four decades, a wandering relic.

2. Einstein remained consistent in his willingness to be a serenely amused loner who was comfortable not conforming.

3. “In teaching history,” Einstein replied, “there should be extensive discussion of personalities who benefited mankind through independence of character and judgment.” 

4. Imagination is more important than knowledge.

5. It is important to foster individuality, for only the individual can produce the new ideas.

6. Persistence and tenacity were obviously already part of his character.

7. For days on end he sat alone, immersed in the search for a solution, not giving up before he had found it. When Einstein triumphed he was overcome with great happiness.

8. He had an allergic reaction against all forms of dogma and authority.

9. Skepticism and a resistance to received wisdom became a hallmark of his life.

10. It made me clearly realize how much superior an education based on free action and personal responsibility is to one relying on outward authority.

11. You’re a very clever boy, Einstein. An extremely clever boy. But you have one great fault: you’ll never let yourself be told anything.

12. I played hooky a lot and studied the masters of theoretical physics with a holy zeal at home, Einstein recalled. 

13. Strenuous intellectual work and looking at God’s nature are the reconciling, fortifying yet relentlessly strict angels that shall lead me through all of life’s troubles. And yet , what a peculiar way this is to weather the storms of life — in many a lucid moment I appear to myself as an ostrich who buries his head in the desert sand so as not to perceive the danger.

14. It would be an astonishing nine years after his graduation and four years after the miracle year in which he upended physics before he would be offered a job as a junior professor.

15. I leave no stone unturned and do not give up my sense of humor. God created the donkey and gave him a thick skin.

16. In a line that could be considered yet another maxim for his life, Einstein recounted “Long live impudence! It is my guardian angel in this world.”

17. I was able to do a full day’s work in only two or three hours. The remaining part of the day, I would work out my own ideas.

18. Had he given up theoretical physics at that point , the scientific community would not have noticed. There was no sign that he was about to unleash a remarkable year the like of which science had not seen since 1666, when Isaac Newton, holed up at his mother’s home to escape the plague developed calculus, an analysis of the light spectrum, and the laws of gravity. 

19. A new idea comes suddenly and in a rather intuitive way. But intuition is nothing but the outcome of earlier intellectual experience.

20. To dwell on the things that depress or anger us does not help in overcoming them. One must knock them down alone.

21. Since he seeks in all directions one must expect the majority of the paths on which he embarks to be blind alleys.

22. He responded by saying that he planned to “smoke like a chimney, work like a horse, eat without thinking, go for a walk only in really pleasant company.”

23. To him, marriage was confining, which was a state he instinctively resisted.

24. I shall never give up the state of living alone, which has manifested itself as an indescribable blessing.

25. When the conventional wisdom of physics seemed to conflict with an elegant theory of his, Einstein was inclined to question that wisdom rather than his theory, often to have his stubbornness rewarded.

26. The whole affair is a matter of indifference to me, as is all the commotion, and the opinion of each and every human being. 

27. He loved being in a group playing music, discussing ideas, drinking strong coffee, and smoking pungent cigars. 

28. He did not like to be constricted.

29. I am truly a lone traveler and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude.

30. It is easier to be a nonconformist and rebel when you can detach yourself easily from others.

31. The undignified mania of trying to adapt and conform and assimilate , which happens among many of my social standing , has always been very repulsive to me.

32. The most beautiful emotion we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger , who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead, a snuffed— out candle.

33. Use for yourself little, but give to others much.

34. When shown his office, he was asked what equipment he might need. "A large wastebasket so I can throw away all my mistakes.”

35. I do not know how the Third World War will be fought but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth — rocks.

36. I believe that older people who have scarcely anything to lose ought to be willing to speak out in behalf of those who are young and are subject to much greater restraint.

37. Brief is this existence, as a fleeting visit in a strange house. The path to be pursued is poorly lit by a flickering consciousness.

38. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly.