once upon a time a personally tracked down a quote that is persistently attributed to Einstein on the Internet. I don’t have it handy but if I wrote it most people would agree that Einstein said it. I turned over every leaf and couldn’t find any variation from him. what I did find is a book written in the 1990s by a very influential Indian swami. hundreds of false quotes seem to come from this one book. Quotes from Einstein and Tesla and Plato and more. all fiction at first I was mad at what I considered a charlatan then I look deeper into his particular sect, and it is not superficially but deeply OK to attribute quotes to people that they never said for theological reasons. I don’t remember exactly what– had to do with incarnation of spirit or whatever – but I could no longer be mad at him. instead, I could be mad at lazy academics who could check sources just like i did.

once upon a time a personally tracked down a quote that is persistently attributed to Einstein on the Internet.

I don’t have it handy but if I wrote it most people would agree that Einstein said it.

I turned over every leaf and couldn’t find any variation from him.

what I did find is a book written in the 1990s by a very influential Indian swami.

hundreds of false quotes seem to come from this one book.

Quotes from Einstein and Tesla and Plato and more.

all fiction

at first I was mad at what I considered a charlatan

then I look deeper into his particular sect, and it is not superficially but deeply OK to attribute quotes to people that they never said for theological reasons.

I don’t remember exactly what– had to do with incarnation of spirit or whatever – but I could no longer be mad at him.

instead, I could be mad at lazy academics who could check sources just like i did.

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