A thought for you

What the sources establish

The Albert Einstein Archives catalogue, record 36-570, lists these English words as its first line and associates the item with Einstein. It gives English as the language and a date range within December 1946. That dates the catalogued item; it does not establish when the remark was first spoken.

The book excerpt published by Princeton University Press, printed page 18 (PDF page 16), also prints the sentence. Its note gives 1945–46 while referring to a shipboard interview in 1930. We do not combine those different dates into a claimed exact origin. This review checked the catalogue and the printed book page, not the archive sheet or the original interview report.

The image wording matches the English text in both checked sources. The German card is a meaning-based translation; it is not a verified historical German original.

Leave room for uncertainty while still preparing

The short remark can be read as a light-hearted response to the future. The sources checked here do not establish a general instruction to ignore appointments or responsibilities.

For a small planning exercise, choose an upcoming appointment, such as a conversation. Separate necessary preparation from imagining the outcome. Checking the time and writing down two questions are concrete tasks; repeatedly picturing someone’s possible reaction does not add new information. Finish the small preparation, then decide when you will return to the topic. Adjust the plan if new information arrives. This exercise is a suggestion from Motivation4you, not a documented method of Einstein’s.

Catalogue, book page and translation compared 28 October 2026. Source note and exercise: Motivation4you.