Nice try, Einstein, but he didn't say that quote

As an economics professor, I used to go into the classroom on the first day of class and encourage the students to think for themselves and not simply accept what others say or repeat what they have heard without a critical assessment.

I would rattle off several aphorisms, pithy sayings or common quotes and critique them. So I have been meaning to write this article for some time. While this article is written sort of tongue-in-cheek, I am nevertheless semi-serious.

How many times have you found yourself simply repeating a quote that you heard somewhere? Yes, a lot of us do that, and we do it thinking it makes sense. We say things like, “Nothing is impossible,” “You can be anything you want to be,” “Out of sight, out of mind,” “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and the list goes on. I myself am guilty of using some of these aphorisms.

I remember teaching an economics class at a federal prison in Alabama. I was teaching the microeconomic concept of indifference curves, where one of the assumptions is that “people prefer more to less.” My students challenged me and pointed out very correctly that they preferred less time in prison. I agreed and pointed out that the concept applied to positive or beneficial items that yielded positive satisfaction. Those are the conditions under which we would prefer more to less. More pleasure and happiness, but not pain and sadness.

Folks, we all know "there are no absolutes." According to Einstein, “everything is relative,” and that I accept as truthful, being that Einstein said it, and after assessing it for myself, of course. What we also know in relation to some of the quotes above, is that there are a lot of things that are impossible outside the religious realm (no religious arguments here, please). In terms of encouraging young people, I used to say, “You can be anything you want to be,” but now I add, “within reason” or qualify it with the word “almost.”

Now to the saying I am especially concerned about and simply cannot accept. You may have all seen it or heard it and probably used it yourselves. It is a quote that is often attributed to one of the greatest minds ever, Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” This quote is used by many and has been attributed to Einstein, even with his picture above or beside the quote.

Einstein did not say it and would never say anything like that, because it makes no sense, and he was a brilliant mind. Think about it. A couple of examples would be, trying to chop down a tree by swinging an ax over and over, or trying to make a sale by knocking on the same door over and over again. What is insane about that? That is persistence and not insanity!

The motivational speaker Les Brown tells the story of him showing up and asking for a job at a radio station over and over, even though he had been told there were no jobs available. He persisted until one day, he was asked to make himself useful and was given a job that set him on the trajectory to success. He was not insane, he was persistent.

Persistent is defined as “continuing firmly or obstinately in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition,” in other words, doing the same thing over and over again until a different result is obtained. Perseverance is defined as “persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” Persisting and perseverance are not forms of insanity, so my ardent hope is that people stop using that quote and attributing such inanity to one of the greatest minds ever.

How about this one? “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.” Now, that is one that I like because it is positive and encouraging. With the rise in all forms of mental health challenges, it is time for us to rethink how we use and misattribute quotes. Just think about it.

Kojo Quartey is president of Monroe County Community College and an economist. He may be reached at kquartey@monroeccc.edu.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Kojo Quartey: Nice try, Einstein, but he didn't say that quote