Monday 26 July 2010

Monday's Quote - Einstein

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

- Albert Einstein

That comes directly from my journal for today.  When I got the new diary, I put quotes on each Monday so I'd have some kind of inspiration for the week.  The quotes came from everywhere -- ones I'd saved and ones I found online and people sent me quotes as well.  I was hoping to be as random as possible, so I just shuffled through the book for an available Monday each time, without looking at dates, until all the Mondays were filled.  My hope was that some kind of synergy might exist - that the quotes might magically have particular relevance on the dates they popped into.

This one surely does.

This quote is the icing on the cake of Outliers -- it is exactly what Gladwell spends so much time talking about from his discussion of IQ tests, to rice paddies.  It is not how "smart" you are, but how long you stay with a problem.  It's about focus and a willingness to keep fighting.

So focus.  And keep fighting.

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