@teslaswords
Nikola Tesla once made the claim that he does not think many great thinkers have been married men. A romantic relationship, he asserts, would be a huge barrier against his scientific achievement.
A magazine of his time published this response to Tesla’s claims:
American Electrician
July, 1896
TESLA AND MARRIAGE
Tesla’s view of marriage and success may be easily disproven on the surface. Ben Franklin, who Tesla adored, was married. So were Socrates, Aristotle, and Confucius. Einstein married twice. There is a long list of great thinkers who married, and plenty even found time for extra-marital affairs.
By the mid-1890s, Tesla was wealthy and famous in New York City. If he wanted to marry, there would be nothing standing in his way. Except for one thing—Obsession. His personality was defined by it.
In newspaper interviews spanning decades apart, he portrays a man who is as obsessive as anyone can be. In his first year at college, he describes studying without rest seven days a week from 3 am to 11 pm. In his second year of college, he tells us he relaxed his studies to read at leisure in the library, where he read the complete works of Voltaire which accounted for nearly 100 thick books with small print. In his elderly years, he tells a magazine interviewer that he tosses and turns in bed at night, still focused on solving his engineering problems.
When Nikola Tesla decides he wants to do something, he shuts out the entire world to accomplish his goal.
TESLA AND PIGEONS
In his early and mid-30s, it was his opportune time to start dating again once he successfully engineered the world around him in partnership with George Westinghouse, but alas, this was the time when he found an entirely new obsession. Tesla’s dating life was dead when he committed to this new dream.
He worked obsessively for decades more to rebuild the world yet again.
He stated it as a fact that humans will listen to live music from across the globe with instant wireless communication.
A global system will synchronize the clocks and stock tickers.
And we will hear the voice of loved ones at a distance without touching a wire.
(Source: Tesla’s memoirs)
So for the rest of his life, Tesla worked obsessively towards this new reality.
For about a hundred years, people even said he failed.
So forgive Tesla for falling in love with his pigeons.
Dogs need to be walked, cats come with a litter box to clean, but
pigeons are the perfect pet for someone who wants to spend time in obsession without interruptions.
"A startling peek into the mind of a true genius."
—Kirkus Reviews
“Tesla’s Words is an eye-opening adapted work...”
—Foreward Clarion Reviews
5/5 stars
"Tesla’s Words is a short book… yet readers will learn as much about Tesla from this as they might from a scholarly 600-page biography."
—IndieReader
”…Reading of this book was a spiritual experience.”
—Dr. Vujo Knezevic
Neurosurgeon;
Tesla Forum of Western Australia
“Tesla in his own words. Great read by Ellis Oswalt.”
—John Nosta
WHO Roster of Experts; Google Health Advisory Board;
former Chief Creative Officer & Chief Strategic Officer of Ogilvy CommonHealth
