Know-How Exchange : Copywriting

We've done this a few times with a humorous credit such as "... with apologies to Albert Einstein."

Tim Ballering

Are you planning to cite, reference or imply that the quote is related to Albert Einstein? Or just use some words he once used and add/modify to suit your purposes?

If you think there is a chance that a significant portion of the readers would recognize the quote as being from Einstein (in its original form), then you ought to credit the [original] quote as being his (using one of the techniques mentioned above). If it's an obscure quote that would not be associated with Einstein, and you are not going to allude to or reference Einstein in the copy, then you may be able to use the quote without attribution or reference to the original source.

The fact that you've asked suggests that you want to play off the fact that this was, in its original form, something that Einstein wrote/said. If that's so then you need to disclose that this is NOT his original quote, but something you've modified.