As a phrase or concept, I am sure it did pre-exist.
But my question above was rhetorical, the quote IS attributed to her, not to anyone else, including Einstein.
That misunderstanding has arisen because if you search for Einstein quotes, you will get quotes by Einstein, quotes about Einstein, quotes by various Feinsteins and a whole bunch of quotes by different Weinsteins!
There are over 1200 of them here with this particular one credited to the correct author on this page:-
http://www.famousquotes.com/author/einstein/39
(I am absolutely certain that you are very well aware of Einstein's achievements and anyone reading your post who doesn't think so, didn't understand it!)
I take your point Feinstein, Weinstein lets just call it Einstein.
http://www.famousquotes.com/show/1478816/
oops they listed it twice.
And she certainly IS credited with saying it in 1994.
I'll give you that. (They're all the right words, but not necessarily in the right chronological order).
The question still remains did she say something original or plagiaristicaly regurgitate a quote?
And was the F dropped recently, to give the present day millions of hits for einstein or were there some pre 1994 references.
I know you believe your question was rhetorical but it is actually a very good question still.
'Does anyone know exactly where he is supposed to have said this or could it be a case of chinese whispers...'
And the answer would be in a book that I can't afford.
So I spent a lot of time trying to find references to it.
In bookrags it was the 52nd listed quote, (yes I wasted my time counting them).
[Edit or Tools and Find in a web browser is easier].
Famous Quotes by Albert Einstein
"You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else." —Albert Einstein on Inspirational
Further down it gives a list of reference material and includes the authority on verifiable Einstein quotes the Princeton book Quotable Einstein.
I couldn't find an ehm 'evaluation copy' so just included a link to the publishers sample which shows the detail it provides with Where Whens.
[You could buy me a copy for christmas if you like and I'll look it up for you].
There is an amazon link halfway down this nice Einstein fan page if you have money to burn.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-101-Fam...-Love-Life-Success-Knowledge-God-and-Religion
(The New Quotable Einstein Amazon Price: $206.37 List Price: $52.50)
Just saying appropriate reference material is required to validate Einstein quotes.