Quote Of The Day By Albert Einstein: 'Such Isolation Is Sometimes Bitter, But I Do Not Regret Being...'

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Between the theory of general relativity, which changed our understanding of the universe, and his famously wild hair, Albert Einstein is arguably the best-known scientist who ever lived. Born in Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879, Einstein spent his boyhood in Munich. His struggles in high school, with its focus on cramming facts and doing as you're told, are well established. There was even a teacher who, feeling threatened by the young man's presence, wanted him gone. At 15, he quit partway through the term and joined his family in Italy. After a few carefree months, a 16-year-old Einstein tried to get into Zurich's Federal Polytechnic Institute but he failed the entrance exam. 

Fortunately, a year at another school, in Aarau, Switzerland, got him in. When he finished college, Einstein had to finally learn the hard way that talent didn't count for much when he'd spent years trying his teachers' patience by skipping lectures that bored him, and clashing with those with whom he disagreed. Unsurprisingly, no teaching offers came in, so he ended up in Bern, reviewing inventions as a technical examiner instead. From his desk, Einstein sent out the papers that rebuilt physics and ultimately made his name. 

Eventually, he moved from the patent office to professorships in Zurich and Berlin. The legendary scientist published his general theory of relativity in 1916, with noted astronomers subsequently backing it up in 1919, making him world famous almost overnight. After the Nazis took power, he left Germany and settled in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1933, where Einstein remained until his death in 1955. The renowned physicist knew what it cost to stand apart from the crowd — sometimes willingly and others because he simply had no choice — and that's why he's behind today's quote of the day.

Albert Einstein wrote, "Such isolation is sometimes bitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and sympathy of other men." This line is from "What I Believe," a short essay the world-renowned physicist penned for the October 1930 issue of Forum and Century. It was reprinted in a 1931 book and Einstein kept returning to the text, publishing a German version, "Wie ich die Welt sehe," in his 1934 collection "Mein Weltbild," which English readers know as "The World as I See It." It was Einstein's reflection on his willingness to endure loneliness if it meant staying true to his values.

One approach to discussing loneliness is highlighting how peaceful it is. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone, and nobody is there to scrutinize your every word and action. Albert Einstein doesn't go the romantic route, though, instead acknowledging that being alone is often quite bitter and difficult. But in the next sentence, he explains that what he gets in return is freedom from whatever other people happen to think or expect — and that freedom is invaluable. Further, Einstein won't rest his "peace of mind upon such shifting foundations," and that's exactly what the opinions of others might cost you. 

Consider the implications in your daily life. If you only feel fine when people approve of you, your calm is built on shaky ground that shifts every time someone changes their mind. It could be something as simple as a bad mood that suddenly strikes, but it will inevitably happen. Einstein lived through a severe case of this when the world made him a hero in 1919 and then a loud faction from his home country began to attack his work as "Jewish-Communist physics" (per the American Institute of Physics). They even stripped him of his citizenship in 1933, but he was the same person with the same ideas.

Einstein isn't advocating for apathy, but there's a difference between caring about other people and needing their approval. If one comment from a coworker, an unanswered text, or a simple disagreement at dinner are enough to throw you off for hours or even days, it's worth reviewing the nagging sensation next to your beliefs and values, and realizing, perhaps, that distance is better than constantly living in fear of being misjudged.

• "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
• "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."
• "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
• "I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity."
• "Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value."