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Albert Einstein Switches Places with His Chauffeur
Truth is relative when it comes to rumors on the internet.
by Taija PerryCook , April 11, 2004
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Snopes Illustration.
For decades, Snopes has kept tabs on popular rumors regarding Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist most famous for developing his theory of relativity.
We've looked into multiple quotes attributed to Einstein, such as that he once said , "The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance," and that he purportedly said , "Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."
We've also fact-checked images — for example, one showing Einstein seemingly bicycling away from an atomic bomb explosion and another allegedly showing him playing the electric guitar .
Decades after his death, we continue to analyze the parts of his life less memorialized, such as his personal philosophical beliefs and whether he married his cousin .
Here are 20 of our Einstein-related stories over the years:
By Taija PerryCook
Taija PerryCook is a Seattle-based journalist who previously worked for the PNW news site Crosscut and the Jordan Times in Amman.
Did Albert Einstein marry one of his cousins?
Aug. 11, 2026
The famous physicist married his double cousin Elsa Einstein, a first cousin on his mother's sid ...
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Did Einstein say, 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'?
Nov. 8, 2025
Online users have for years — "over and over again" — shared the quote with the famous physicist ...
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Did Einstein Warn That a Time Will Come When the Rich Control the Means of Communication?
Sept. 30, 2023
Einstein wrote an essay titled "Why Socialism?" for the first issue of the independent socialist ...
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Did Einstein Say, 'The World Will Not Be Destroyed by Those Who Do Evil'?
March 11, 2023
Every now and then the internet gets something right.
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Did Einstein Say 'The Only Thing More Dangerous than Ignorance Is Arrogance'?
Dec. 29, 2022
One can't help but wonder what the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, who died in 1955, would say ab ...
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Did Einstein Say This About Boats Being Safer at Shore?
Oct. 29, 2022
While the shore might be safer, the quote goes on, that's not what ships are built for.
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Did Einstein Say the Universe and Stupidity Are Infinite?
April 7, 2022
Quotations attributed to Einstein — rightly and wrongly — are in seemingly infinite supply.
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Did Einstein's First Wife Co-Author His Work Without Credit?
Feb. 13, 2022
The Nobel Prize winner may have had some support in the early years of his career.
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Was Einstein a Member of the NAACP?
Feb. 8, 2022
The renowned scientist supported the civil rights movement.
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Did Albert Einstein Say 'We Are Slowed-Down Sound and Light Waves'?
June 5, 2019
Einstein, who died in 1955, would probably be chagrined to read the many fake quotes attributed ...
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Did Albert Einstein Say World War IV Will be Fought 'With Sticks and Stones'?
April 16, 2018
A quote appears to paraphrase remarks made by the famed physicist — but he wasn't the first to w ...
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Did Einstein Say He Feared Technology Would Create a 'Generation of Idiots'?
March 6, 2017
More than one cautionary statement about the dangers technology may pose to humanity has been fa ...
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Einstein Bicycles as A-Bomb Explodes?
July 9, 2016
An altered image purports to show Albert Einstein racing away from an atomic bomb explosion on a ...
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Is This a Real Albert Einstein Rejection Letter?
May 20, 2016
Even the best of us see our efforts rejected for not being good enough sometimes, this wants to say.
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Does Pic Show Albert Einstein Playing an Electric Guitar?
Oct. 6, 2015
Digital editing strikes again.
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A Universal Force
April 28, 2015
Albert Einstein did not describe love as a "universal force" in a letter to his daughter Lieserl ...
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Albert Einstein, Civil Rights Activist
June 24, 2013
Rumor: Albert Einstein once said that segregation was a 'disease of white people.'
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Einstein and Compound Interest?
Nov. 6, 2006
Did Albert Einstein declare compound interest to be 'the most powerful force in the universe'?
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Did Albert Einstein Humiliate an Atheist Professor?
June 29, 2004
One of the most troubling conundrums is the question of how evil and suffering can survive in a ...
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Albert Einstein Switches Places with His Chauffeur
April 11, 2004
"Why, this is so simple even my driver could explain it to you."
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