Albert Einstein — "I must confess that the degree of their brutality and cowardice came as somethin…"
I must confess that the degree of their brutality and cowardice came as something of a surprise.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Albert Einstein
"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
"Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do-but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it."
"It is not that I'm so smart, but I stay with problems longer."
"I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly."
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: deepseek
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
Genuine shock at how extreme human cruelty can become. The speaker anticipated wrongdoing but was unprepared for its full depth. Rational minds routinely underestimate the capacity for organized, systematic violence—and the cowardice behind it, since those who brutalize others rarely demonstrate real courage. The pairing of 'brutality' and 'cowardice' is deliberate: true courage resists oppression, while perpetrating it under mob or state cover is the opposite of bravery.
Relevance to Albert Einstein
Einstein spoke these words about Nazi Germany after fleeing in 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor. As a Jewish scientist whose work was dismissed as 'Jewish physics,' he had his citizenship stripped and property seized. His entire career rested on rational empiricism—studying reality as it is—yet even that discipline hadn't prepared him for how fast a civilized nation could collapse into state-sponsored terror. His lifelong pacifism made the regime's methodical barbarity personally staggering.
The era
In January 1933, Hitler became Germany's Chancellor and within months dismantled democratic institutions entirely. Jews lost civil rights under the Nuremberg Laws, political opponents vanished into concentration camps, and book burnings targeted intellectual culture itself. The speed and totality shocked liberal Europe, which had believed democratic norms were resilient. Western governments initially appeased Hitler, the League of Nations stood idle, and the educated class that had built Weimar's golden culture watched it evaporate almost overnight.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].