Recovery-literature saying · Documented by 1981
Did Einstein Say the “Definition of Insanity” Quote?
No reliable writing, speech, letter or interview connects this sentence to Albert Einstein. Closely matching wording appears in recovery literature decades after his death.
Popular wording
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Documented wording
“Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.”
Context
What the attribution evidence shows
The Narcotics Anonymous guide uses a closely related sentence while explaining repeated destructive behaviour in addiction and the need to change course. It is an aphorism in a recovery context, not a scientific or clinical definition and not an Einstein quotation.
Attribution note
A closely matching recovery-literature form was documented around 1980–1981. Rita Mae Brown’s 1983 novel Sudden Death contains the familiar “doing the same thing” wording. Later circulation attached Einstein’s name without a primary source.
- Attributed author
- Albert Einstein
- Document
- Recovery-literature saying
- Earlier setting
- Narcotics Anonymous literature
- Later exact match
- Rita Mae Brown, Sudden Death (1983)
- Date
- Documented by 1981
Earlier documented wording
Read the recovery-literature sentence in context.
The external link opens the official Narcotics Anonymous introductory guide, which contains the closely related wording about repeating the same mistakes.
MLA Style Center attribution review ↗ Detailed wording history ↗