Who first said the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results?

(12) On October 7, 2011 at 8:01 pm AndyRespire [0] said:

I created a TinyURL for question page (so I could link it):

http://tinyurl.com/answers-com-einstein-insanity

(11) On April 24, 2011 at 4:06 am Vsmmsw [0] said:

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result." Albert Einstein

(10) On September 30, 2010 at 2:21 pm Davidt 9 [1] said:

The Basic Text was indeed published in 1983 but was copyrighted in 1982 after approval in May 1982. The quote exists in the final approval draft which was distributed in November 1981 and is found on Page 11. A link to the Book is http://www.amonymifoundation.org/uploads/NA_Approval_Form_Scan.pdf

You'll find the quote in paragraph 4 of page 11 (page 25 of the pdf)

(9) On September 30, 2010 at 6:49 am Kubush [1] said:

The "Basic Text" was published in 1983, not '82. You say that the "review form" of the book was printed in '81 but can you verify that it had that statement at the time?

(8) On September 29, 2010 at 4:07 pm Davidt 9 [1] said:

The quote "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results." is contained in the Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous which was published in 1982. The review form of the book was distributed to members in 1981 and work on the book began in 1979. All of this predates Rita Mae Brown's book.

You can find the quote on page 23 of the current 6th edition.

(7) On July 13, 2010 at 9:05 pm Ibcnunabit [4] said:

It's ridiculous to suppose that there could be evidence that Einstein did not make the quote, unless it happened to have been uttered before Einstein was born. You cannot prove that *I* did not say it first. In the absence of any other evidence, the earliest documented use of the term MUST be designated the original until further evidence contradicts it. That is fact, not opinion. There is no such thing as "documentation" that somebody DID NOT say something.

(6) On May 19, 2010 at 2:27 am Lynn Serafinn [0] said:

Good memory about Whoopi Goldberg's character in Ghost... but it was Oda Mae Brown. Very close. ;-)

(5) On March 25, 2010 at 12:52 am Ritualdevice [0] said:

It is the responsibility of the person making the claim to provide the proof. If you think Einstein said it, you'll have to provide the source. And it would be nice if it was a source that referenced material that was contemporary with Einstein.

(4) On March 23, 2010 at 9:59 pm HappySkeptic [0] said:

"Finally what is the evidence that Einstein did not make the quote?"

That is an illogical question. If that is the standard then I can attribute this quote to anyone I wanted to and simply ask if you had evidence that showed X person did not make the quote. Of course you can't.

The most recent verifiable documentation is in Rita Mae Brown's book. So we should consider her the originator untill and unless and earlier source can be cited.

(3) On May 28, 2009 at 9:42 pm Rojo7449 [0] said:

I must agree with Regisb50 on the lack of proof this quote wasn't in use prior to 1983 because one of the famous folks it was credited to (Ben Franklin, or Einstein) had not, in fact, started it.

I really want to ask, though, Rita Mae Brown...wasn't that the name of the woman who Whoopi impersonated at the bank in the movie "Ghost"?

(2) On February 10, 2009 at 8:32 pm Regisb50 [0] said:

Interesting souce, but I see no evidence that it was not used without a citation to an earlier work. What you have is a valid quote from a book dated 1983, but no proof that the quote did not occur earlier.

One must realize that this is a very popular quote, and that the source in this answer had a limited readership. This begs the question of how the quote became so popular.

Finally what is the evidence that Einstein did not make the quote?

Frankly without more cited research this answer is impossible to qualify as anything other than opinion.

(1) On March 10, 2008 at 12:44 am Pegbry [0] said:

Actually it was Rita Mae Brown in her book Sudden Death on Pg. 68 from 1983.

Note: This quote has also been misatribuated to Albert Einstein.

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