"The Chinese, Einstein wrote, were “industrious” but also “filthy.” He described them as a “peculiar, herd-like nation often more like automatons than people.” Even though he only spent a few days in China, Einstein felt confident enough to cast judgment on the entire country and its inhabitants, at least in his private journal.
“It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races,” Einstein wrote. “For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary.”
While visiting Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka, Einstein was moved to pity for the crowds of beggars lining the streets of the capital city Colombo, but also described the mostly Indian panhandlers in dehumanizing terms. “They live in great filth and considerable stench down on the ground, do little, and need little,” he wrote."
