My PESA Speech

PESA stands for Plain English Speaking Award. It's supposed to be today, after school, but I had German class so I couldn't go, even though I was nominated by my class.

So here's my speech. I'm bored, and this blog is feeling very neglected. Am watching The Last Note as I type this. (Also can totally be stolen and plagiarised by desperate students because I feel for them.)

My speech:

Q4 “Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish”? (Albert Einstein) Share what you understand of this statement.


Albert Einstein was the classic picture of a mad scientist – white hair and a perpetually surprised expression. However, his famous quote, “Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish”, is far from a statement typical of a scientist. It is rather paradoxical, as “wise” is an antonym of “foolish”.

Today, I am here to share about what I understand of this cryptic sentence.

Firstly, we have to look at what Einstein means by “God”. As it is well-known that he criticized both personal gods – such as those worshipped in Islam and Christianity – and atheism, which is the belief that Gods do not exist, it can be rather difficult to ascertain what exactly Einstein meant.

I believe that Einstein did not mean a conventional God. I am of the opinion that he intended for “God” to represent infinite knowledge, and that he likens knowledge to a timeless and impartial God in the quote. Knowledge will never cease to exist, and knowledge favours no one.

Thus, we come to the second part of the given quote: that all men are equally wise.

An inherent part of human life is the pursuit of knowledge. We have kindergartens, secondary schools, and universities, which are all institutes dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. In knowing that we do not know enough, we are wise.

Socrates’ quote, “I know that I do not know”, complements this. Any being, who, in the understanding that he does not possess enough information, seeks information, is considered wise – and as all humans seek information, we are all wise, to an extent. Whether we are a five year old child or an eighty year old man, we all yearn for more knowledge – this trait is displayed in all humans, regardless of age or profession.

This, then, is why men are equally wise, before the timeless and impartial thing called knowledge.

Now, we come to the last part of the quote: that all men are then equally foolish.

All of us, no matter how old or educated, think that we know something that others do not. For example – arguments. In trying to convince another that we are correct and they are wrong, we are assuming that we know better than them – that we are qualified to “fix” their way of thinking. Often, this assumption is wrong.

Thinking that we know better than others – this is a trait that all human beings possess.

We know nothing, but act as if we know everything. To someone of a higher level, we would seem ridiculous, in the same way that a master chess player might be amused by a novice’s attempt at strategy.

Even as we chase after enlightenment, we consider ourselves informed. In not knowing that we are ignorant, we are foolish.

Thus, in front of God – Einstein’s word for maximal and infinite knowledge – we are all equally foolish.

In conclusion, Albert Einstein’s quote, “Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish”, as I understand it, is about how men know that they do not know, yet tell themselves that they do know, all while pursuing what they do not know – a simplified paradox that is no less of a paradox.