FACT CHECK: Did Einstein Say Art Is Like Having āOne Hand Extended Into The Universeā?
A post shared on Facebook claims physicist Albert Einstein once said, āArt is standing with one hand extended into the universe and one hand extended into the world, and letting ourselves be a conduit for passing energy.ā
Verdict: False
There is no evidence that Einstein ever said or wrote this saying.
Fact Check:
There is no shortage of Facebook posts quoting Einstein. Yet, while Einstein is highly quotable, thereās no evidence that the man who developed the theory of relativity ever said the quote in question. (RELATED: Did Albert Einstein Coin This Saying On The āDefinition Of Insanityā?)
It does not appear in āThe Ultimate Quotable Einstein,ā which features more than 1,000 verified Einstein quotes. A search of the archives of Einsteinās writings online didnāt return any results either.
The Daily Caller News Foundation also reached out to several experts, none of whom recognized the saying. Two experts ā New York University professor Matthew Stanley and University of Florida physicist Clifford M. Will ā didnāt even think it sounded like Einstein.
āI donāt think it is genuine,ā Stanley told TheDCNF in an email. āI canāt imagine him saying, āconduit for passing energy.āā
According to Quote Investigator, the quote may actually come from a 1990 book by Christina Baldwin, though the wording varies somewhat. In āLifeās Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest,ā the quote reads, āSpiritual love is a position of standing with one hand extended into the universe and one hand extended into the world, letting ourselves be a conduit for passing energy.ā