One day, Einstein hopped onto a Berlin streetcar and, out of habit, immediately buried himself in a book. Without even looking up, he pulled out the coins he had pre-counted for the fare and handed them to the conductor.
“There’s not enough here,” the conductor said.
“That’s impossible,” Einstein replied, still glued to his book.
“I’m telling you—it’s short,” the conductor insisted.
Einstein shook his head as if to say, No way.
The conductor, now slightly irritated, counted it out loud: “Look—it’s 15 pfennigs. You’re five short.”
Einstein patted his pocket, found the missing coin, and handed it over, a bit sheepish. The conductor smiled and said, “No worries, Grandpa—you just need to brush up on your arithmetic.”
***
Once, a lady asked Einstein to call her but warned him her phone number was really hard to remember.
“It’s 24-361. Got it? Repeat it back!” she insisted.
Einstein shrugged. “Of course I remembered. That’s simple—two dozen and nineteen squared.”
***
Einstein adored Charlie Chaplin’s films.
One day, he sent the great comedian a telegram:
“Your film The Gold Rush is understood by everyone in the world, and I’m certain you will become a great man. – Einstein.”
Chaplin wrote back:
“I admire you even more. No one in the world understands your theory of relativity, and yet you still became a great man. – Chaplin.”
***
A young reporter, notebook and pencil in hand, once asked Einstein,
“Do you keep a journal or a notebook to write down all your brilliant ideas?”
Einstein smiled and replied,
“My young friend, truly great ideas come so rarely… they’re not hard to remember.”
