Did Albert Einstein Really Say: "I Did It Myself"?

[shinokk]

So, I've recently come across the following quote:
"I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself." -A. Einstein

I've tried googling to see if there's any proof he actually said that, but my search yielded little to no result. So, now I'm here and I need your help. Does anyone know if Einstein really said this? Oh, and sorry if this is in the wrong section.

 

[zoobyshoe]

This is the place to go to find the history of Einstein quotes:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

I can't find this one. It is always possible it's a heavily paraphrased version of something he said at one point, but it strikes me as more likely it's a quote from someone else erroneously attributed to him.

 

[dipole]

I doubt very much that many people told Einstein "no".

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Here are a few more. Does anyone know if these are correct? I would appreciate any help I can get.

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself.

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself.

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself.

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself.

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself.

Oops, I left out one by Groucho Marx.

 

[shinokk]

This is the place to go to find the history of Einstein quotes:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

I can't find this one. It is always possible it's a heavily paraphrased version of something he said at one point, but it strikes me as more likely it's a quote from someone else erroneously attributed to him.

I already checked Wikiquote and yes, I agree with you. It's probably heavily paraphrased and erroneously attributed to him.

Oops, I left out one by Groucho Marx.

lol Sarcasm? Or are you serious?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I already checked Wikiquote and yes, I agree with you. It's probably heavily paraphrased and erroneously attributed to him.

I just found this an another wiki page discussing the quote page:

I am thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself
This is being attributed to Einstein on the Internet, but it appears to come from Wayne W. Dyer's book You'll See It When You Believe It, page 54, according to Google Books. Dyer does not attribute it to Einstein, but mentions Einstein in the same paragraph.
In my office I have two framed posters. One is a picture of Albert Einstein, beneath which are the words "Great spirits have always encountered violent oppostion from mediocre minds." The other poster is made up solely of words: "I am grateful to all those people who said no. It is because of them I did it myself." Great thoughts!
Apparently someone misread this and thought the quote was from Einstein. I don't know who was the first to do this. Imaid (talk) 23:47, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Albert_Einstein

So, it seems there's a good chance someone just misunderstood Dyer's account of the two separate posters he has on his wall.

 

[Whovian]

I doubt very much that many people told Einstein "no".

Really? His theory was incredibly controversial. So much so that he never got a Nobel Prize for his theories of Relativity, he got one for a lesser known contribution of his to physics.

 

[shinokk]

I just found this an another wiki page discussing the quote page:



http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Albert_Einstein

So, it seems there's a good chance someone just misunderstood Dyer's account of the two separate posters he has on his wall.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Ryan_m_b]

"Never believe quotes you read on the internet" - Winston Churchill

 

[Infinitum]

"Never believe quotes you read on the internet" - Winston Churchill

I don't believe this!

 

[zoobyshoe]

"Never believe quotes you read on the internet" - Winston Churchill

I believe his actual words were:

The internet has nothing to offer, but blood, tears, toil, and misquotes.

ChurchillMisquotes.com

 

[dipole]

Really? His theory was incredibly controversial. So much so that he never got a Nobel Prize for his theories of Relativity, he got one for a lesser known contribution of his to physics.

After the year 1919 Einstein was one of the most famous humans on the planet, the man could have had almost anything he wanted, and he didn't say the quote anyways.

 

[Gnosis]

Realistically, Winston Churchill couldn’t have offered any worthy advice as concerns the Internet (if indeed he actually made any statement about the Internet, which I highly doubt) as such came about essentially after his days.

Winston Churchill suffered a series of strokes (in 1949 – age 75 & 1953 – age 79) making his speech impediment all the more difficult to deal with and slowing him down physically, causing him to retire as Prime Minister in 1955 at age 81. Churchill suffered another mild stroke in December of 1956 at age 82. By 1959, and 85 years old, he could only enter the House of Commons in a wheelchair. As his mental and physical faculties decayed further he began to lose his long battle with depression. It was speculated that Churchill was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in his last years though others contributed his decline to the series of strokes he suffered over the years. Hence, his mental faculties were already in decline long before the earliest development of the so-called “Internet” in the early 60's where it was more concept than an actual world wide web.

Winston Churchill suffered a severe stroke on January 15, 1965 and died nine days later on January 24, 1965 at 90 years of age. Though he tried to remain active in public life, he remained more the recluse per his increasingly more silent latter years, so it’s not likely that Churchill ever made any statement concerning the “Internet”, as such was of little consequence back then and his faculties were greatly diminished by the time the earliest stages of Internet development had come about. Since there was virtually no general populous usage of the early Internet (barely affordable personal computers had only come into existence by the latter 1970’s attributable to the rise of the first commercially available general purpose 8-bit microprocessor chip, the 40-pin Intel 8080 in 1974), most people wouldn’t have had a clue as to what an “Internet” was hence, a statement by Churchill concerning the Internet would have been essentially pointless.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Realistically, Winston Churchill couldn’t have offered any worthy advice as concerns the Internet (if indeed he actually made any statement about the Internet, which I highly doubt) as such came about essentially after his days.

Winston Churchill suffered a series of strokes (in 1949 – age 75 & 1953 – age 79) making his speech impediment all the more difficult to deal with and slowing him down physically, causing him to retire as Prime Minister in 1955 at age 81. Churchill suffered another mild stroke in December of 1956 at age 82. By 1959, and 85 years old, he could only enter the House of Commons in a wheelchair. As his mental and physical faculties decayed further he began to lose his long battle with depression. It was speculated that Churchill was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in his last years though others contributed his decline to the series of strokes he suffered over the years. Hence, his mental faculties were already in decline long before the earliest development of the so-called “Internet” in the early 60's where it was more concept than an actual world wide web.

Winston Churchill suffered a severe stroke on January 15, 1965 and died nine days later on January 24, 1965 at 90 years of age. Though he tried to remain active in public life, he remained more the recluse per his increasingly more silent latter years, so it’s not likely that Churchill ever made any statement concerning the “Internet”, as such was of little consequence back then and his faculties were greatly diminished by the time the earliest stages of Internet development had come about. Since there was virtually no general populous usage of the early Internet (barely affordable personal computers had only come into existence by the latter 1970’s attributable to the rise of the first commercially available general purpose 8-bit microprocessor chip, the 40-pin Intel 8080 in 1974), most people wouldn’t have had a clue as to what an “Internet” was hence, a statement by Churchill concerning the Internet would have been essentially pointless.

You are my top choice for this years PF Award for the Most Seriously Underdeveloped Sense of Humor.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

According to wiki

The history of the Internet began with the development of computers in the 1950s.

Wiki, History of the Internet.

So Gnosis' analysis is wrong.