In 1911, Albert Einstein sent a letter of impeccable advice to Marie Curie as she faced some heat from critics. What did the genius have to say? "Brush those haters off, ignore the trolls, and don't let those bullies get to you!" Well, not exactly. But something like that. Read the complete letter below!
According to Jezebel, "In January of 1911, Curie was denied a seat for a physicist in the French Academy of Sciences, which many assume had to do with the fact that she was a woman and an atheist (though there were rumors that she was Jewish) but probably mainly because news had just surfaced that she, a widow, was carrying on a romantic relationship with physicist Paul Langevin, who was married though estranged from his wife. The scandal broke while she was away, and upon her return she found an angry mob in front of her house-Curie and her daughters were driven from her home, forced to stay with friends."
Curie was facing an unworthy amount of criticism for aspects far beyond her public or professional persona, instead she was being picked on for her personal life - or what people believed they knew about her personal life. Bullies are bullies, and sadly things haven't changed much. What did Einstein have to say about this ridiculous band of haters and trolls?
Check out the complete letter below (translated from French), released as part of a set of unseen letters by the legend that is Albert Einstein in The Collected Papers Of Albert Einstein:
"Highly esteemed Mrs. Curie,
Do not laugh at me for writing you without having anything sensible to say. But I am so enraged by the base manner in which the public is presently daring to concern itself with you that I absolutely must give vent to this feeling. However, I am convinced that you consistently despise this rabble, whether it obsequiously lavishes respect on you or whether it attempts to satiate its lust for sensationalism! I am impelled to tell you how much I have come to admire your intellect, your drive, and your honesty, and that I consider myself lucky to have made your personal acquaintance in Brussels. Anyone who does not number among these reptiles is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages among us as you, and Langevin too, real people with whom one feels privileged to be in contact. If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don't read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptile for whom it has been fabricated.
With most amicable regards to you, Langevin, and Perrin, yours very truly,
A. Einstein
P.S. I have determined the statistical law of motion of the diatomic molecule in Planck's radiation field by means of a comical witticism, naturally under the constraint that the structure's motion follows the laws of standard mechanics. My hope that this law is valid in reality is very small, though."
Einstein was indeed a wise man in more ways than one. This advice, offered to Marie Curie in a time of need, is exactly the response we all should have when dealing with haters, bullies, and trolls.
In summary, here is the main lesson we learned from Mr. Einstein today: "If the rabble continues to occupy itself with you, then simply don't read that hogwash, but rather leave it to the reptile for whom it has been fabricated."
Those who concern themselves with spewing hate don't deserve your attention, time or energy. Don't get caught up in the "rabble" or "hogwash," just do you.
