A professor's opinion about doing physics with such low job chances

[B4ssHunter]

so i currently live in egypt , physics job positions here are actually a lot worse than in america
anyway , i asked my grandpa's friend about if i should do physics or not , he was a professor of nuclear physics in alexandria university
anyway
he said that
" 70% of physics graduates in egypt , don't get a job in physics , i realized that when i was first starting physics , i knew i was probably going to work somewhere else when i graduate , but i couldn't just resist the temptation to know all those things , i was lucky to become a professor of physics , but that's not what i am here for , i am here to know more , knowledge was more important than money or job or even a wife to me , it would seem stupid but that's how it is for me "
then he continued
" people who study physics at least those in our university are divided into two groups
one of them are those who study really hard and work hard to become professors , lecturers and even scientists
and then are those who work really hard , and study really hard to know what they would die to know , to know that little thing that keeps them from sleeping
in the end , they both get the same chance of working which is near 10% , but the second group seems to not care about a job anymore , just like me "

i really want to know how you think of this ? is he just trying to motivate me to go into physics ?
or is he talking for real ?
i mean yes , i would die to know how magnetic fields work , how quantum theories work but i don't know if i could live without a job

 

[Simon Bridge]

That looks pretty accurate to me.
If you are in physics for the money - you are doing it wrong.
However, not getting a job in physics is not the same as not getting any job - very few University grads get work in their speciality, but they do seem to be able to (at least) stay alive on what they do. There is usually some way to make a living for someone who is smart and science training is quite good for general competence.

What he was doing, was providing you with the information you needed to make an informed choice about your future - i.e. he was trying to empower you with knowledge. That's what educators are supposed to do. If you want motivation, get a coach. He'll tell you you're great and you can be the best and you should get out there and win!