Albert Einstein? Apocryphal? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Solving a difficult problem requires hard work for an extended period. To reinforce this viewpoint people enjoy sharing the following humble remark which has been attributed to Albert Einstein:
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
I have been unable to find a solid citation, and I have become skeptical of this ascription. Is this another fake Einstein quotation? Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The evidence supporting the ascription to Albert Einstein is not substantive. Alice Calaprice, the editor of the important 2010 collection “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” from Princeton University Press, placed this quotation in the “Probably Not by Einstein” section of her reference.1
Albert Einstein died in 1955. The earliest match known to QI appeared in the 1996 compilation “Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century” edited by Jerry Mayer and John P. Holms which contained this entry on page seventeen:2
It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
Unfortunately, the editors did not provide a citation. Hence, QI does not know where the editors found the quotation.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In November 1996 “The Palm Beach Post” of Florida discussed the collection above and reprinted a sampling of quotations:3
In Bite-Size Einstein (St Martin’s Press, $13.95), Jerry Mayer and John P. Holms have collected some quotations from “the greatest mind of the 20th century.” …
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
In 2003 the expression appeared in “The Quotable Teacher” edited by Randy Howe:4
It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879-1955)
In 2014 “The New York Times” published a review of the novel “Casebook” by Mona Simpson which included the quotation:5
In the book’s opening pages, Irene is roundly drawn. She describes herself as “pretty for a mathematician.” She keeps an old blackboard in the kitchen, on which she scribbles high-end inspirational quotes, like this one she attributes to Einstein: “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
In conclusion, there is no substantive evidence that Albert Einstein authored this quotation. He died in 1955, and he received credit by 1996. Currently, the creator remains anonymous.
Image Notes: Illustration of jumbled puzzle pieces from Mel Poole at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgements: Great thanks to Andrew Old, Szescstopni, Austen Gary, and Chris Barth whose inquiries led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to the volunteers editors of Wikiquote who explored this quotation and identified the 1996 citation.
- 2010, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, Edited by Alice Calaprice, Section: Attributed to Einstein: Probably Not By Einstein, Quote Page 481, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. (Verified on paper) ↩︎
- 2003 (1996 Copyright) Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century, Compiled by Jerry Mayer and John P. Holms, Chapter: On Himself, Quote Page 17, Gramercy Books, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1996 November 11, The Palm Beach Post, I Hate Mondays, Quote Page D1, Column 2, West Palm Beach, Florida. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2003 Copyright, The Quotable Teacher, Edited by Randy Howe, Chapter 6: That’s What the Silence Is For: The Process of Learning, Quote Page 149, The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2014 June 1, New York Times, Section: New York Times Book Review, Snooping Around by John Williams, Quote Page BR42, New York. (ProQuest) ↩︎