Albert Einstein? Basil Wilberforce? Gilbert Fowler White? Robert E. Hinshaw?
Question for Quote Investigator: Some skeptical individuals doubt the existence of anything miraculous or supernatural. Yet, some spiritual individuals believe that everything is miraculous. Here is a pertinent saying about this dichotomy:
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
This statement has been attributed to the famous scientist Albert Einstein, but I am unconvinced because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to QI appeared in notes kept by the prominent U.S. geographer Gilbert Fowler White in 1942. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
What was this? Happy chance? A miracle? As I look back over the truly crucial events in my life I realize that they were not planned long in advance. Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is”.
The text above appeared in Robert E. Hinshaw’s 2006 biography titled “Living With Nature’s Extremes: The Life of Gilbert Fowler White”. The source note accompanying the text stated that it occurred in Fowler’s personal notes of 1942.
It is not clear how White learned about this quotation, and QI has not yet found any additional substantive support for the attribution to Einstein. Hence, this evidence is weak. Based on current knowledge QI would not ascribe these words to Einstein, and the creator remains anonymous.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
A partial match for this quotation occurred in a religious work published in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1839 by Andrews Norton who was reprinting a note from a pamphlet:2
“The expression, that a miracle is but the religious name for an event in general, and thus, that all that happens is a miracle, may readily fall under the suspicion of being intended for a direct denial of any thing miraculous; for, to be sure, if every thing is a miracle, then, on the other hand, nothing is a miracle.”
In 1896 a New Zealand newspaper reported on a sermon by Basil Wilberforce who was the Canon of Westminster Abbey during which he spoke about the dichotomy:3
The fact is that miracle is only ‘an epitome of God’s usual processes in Nature seen in immediate connection with their source.’ To the aspiring mind everything is a miracle, or nothing is a miracle. The habitual organic processes of Nature are as direct a miracle as that recorded in the beautiful gospel of this morning; it is only their continuity that divests them of exceptional interest.
In 1898 the words above were reprinted in a collection titled “Sermons Preached in Westminster Abbey by Basil Wilberforce”.4
In 1913 an article titled “What Is the Supernatural?” by Edward S. Drown published in “The Harvard Theological Review” contained the following passage:5
Divine and physical action are not opposed. The miracle is the divine side of an event. It has been said that Saint Augustine’s statement that everything is a miracle amounts to saying that nothing is a miracle. But that does not do justice to Augustine’s position. Augustine does not mean to confound the natural and the supernatural, to reduce the spiritual to the physical. In every event of nature he sees a divine side. And that divine side is the miracle.
In 1918 “Stories and Story-Telling in Moral and Religious Education” by Edward Porter St. John discussed the viewpoint of young children:6
It will help to solve some of the lesser problems of the Sunday-school teacher of young children if she will remember that “wonder stories” are not wonder stories for them. The presence of the miraculous element in the Bible stories need hardly be considered by the kindergartner.
To the child in her class nothing is a miracle, or everything is a miracle as you choose to put it. That Jesus could walk upon the water is not stranger than that the fishes can swim beneath its surface; that He could multiply the loaves and fishes is as natural as that the grocer should be able to supply our wants from day to day.
In 1942 Gilbert Fowler White wrote a note attributing the full quotation under examination to Einstein as stated at the beginning of this article:
Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is”.
In 1989 syndicated gossip columnist Liz Smith credited Einstein:7
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle,” said Albert Einstein.
In 1990 the collection “Friendly Advice” compiled by Jon Winokur contained the following entry:8
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
In 2010 the quotation was placed into the section “Probably Not By Einstein” within the reference “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” edited by Alice Calaprice from Princeton University Press.9
In summary, the quotation was attributed to Albert Einstein in 1942 by geographer Gilbert Fowler White; however, this evidence was isolated and weak. It is unclear how White learned about the quotation. Currently, QI believes the creator remains anonymous. Precursor statements were circulating by the nineteenth century.
Image Notes: Picture of glass sphere on the beach from Jake Willett at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgements: Great thanks to Earl Blacklock, John Michael Figueroa, Roshana Ariel, Trent Price, and Jane Bella whose inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to the volunteer editors of Wikiquote.org who pointed to the note in the 2006 biography of Gilbert Fowler White.
- 2006, Living With Nature’s Extremes: The Life of Gilbert Fowler White by Robert E. Hinshaw, Chapter 4: World War II: Humanitarian Service, Internment, and the Return Home, Quote Page 62, Johnson Books, Boulder, Colorado. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1839, Remarks On a Pamphlet Entitled “‘The Latest Form of Infidelity’ Examined” by Andrews Norton, Quote Page 44, Published by John Owen, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1896 October 24, The New Zealand Herald, Supplement to the New Zealand Herald, Sunday Reading: No Wastefulness With God by Canon Wilberforce, Quote Page 4, Column 7, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1898, Sermons Preached in Westminster Abbey by Basil Wilberforce (Canon of Westminster), Sermon: No Wastefulness With God, Start Page 236, Quote Page 237, Elliot Stock, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1913 April, The Harvard Theological Review, Volume 6, Number 2, What Is the Supernatural? by Edward S. Drown (Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts), Start Page 143, Quote Page 151 and 152, Issued Quarterly by The Faculty of Divinity in Harvard University, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1918, Stories and Story-Telling in Moral and Religious Education by Edward Porter St. John (Professor of Pedagogy in the Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy), Revised Edition, Chapter 8: The Story-Interests of Childhood, Quote Page 57 and 58, The Pilgrim Press, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1989 February 3, The Baltimore Sun, ‘Phantom’ fills cash register out West by Liz Smith, Quote Page 2C, Column 4, Baltimore, Maryland. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1990, Friendly Advice, Compiled and edited by Jon Winokur, Topic: Life, Quote Page 142, Dutton, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2010, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, Edited by Alice Calaprice, Chapter: Attributed To Einstein, Section: Probably Not By Einstein, Quote Page 483, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. (Verified on paper) ↩︎