Richard Feynman — "I don't think I'm a very good teacher. I just try to explain things clearly."
I don't think I'm a very good teacher. I just try to explain things clearly.
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More from Richard Feynman
"When we know how to do something, we don't call it research anymore."
"I don't have to be a gentleman."
"I just can't understand why people are so interested in what I do. It's just physics."
"Physicists are like little children, they want to know how the world works. But they're not content to just wonder. They want to open up the toy and see what's inside."
"I don't believe in the idea of a 'common man' or a 'common woman.' I believe in individual people."
About Richard Feynman (1918-1988)
American theoretical physicist who shared the 1965 Nobel for QED, developed Feynman diagrams, and wrote the Feynman Lectures on Physics. Closely associated with Julian Schwinger (co-Nobelist for QED) and Murray Gell-Mann (Caltech rival and Eightfold-Way physicist). For an intellectual contrast, see Deepak Chopra, physician and quantum-mysticism author — Feynman's Caltech 'cargo cult science' commencement address is the precise template for what he saw as misuse of physics terminology — Chopra-style appropriation of quantum vocabulary for metaphysical claims is the canonical example of what Feynman called 'fooling yourself'.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The speaker downplays their teaching ability while revealing their actual philosophy: clarity is the only real goal. It's a humble admission that rejects performance and pretension. Good explanation isn't about technique or charisma — it's about making something genuinely understandable. The statement itself models what it describes: direct, unpretentious, stripped of ego.
Relevance to Richard Feynman
Feynman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for quantum electrodynamics, yet became legendary as a communicator through his Caltech lectures, later published as The Feynman Lectures on Physics. He believed if you couldn't explain something simply, you didn't understand it. His 'Feynman Technique' — learning by teaching — became a widely adopted study method, directly reflecting this philosophy.
The era
Feynman worked through mid-20th century physics' most complex era — quantum mechanics, particle physics, the Manhattan Project. As science grew increasingly inaccessible to the public, Feynman became a rare bridge figure. His 1986 Challenger investigation, explained via a glass of ice water on live television, exemplified this clarity-first approach during a moment of national scientific reckoning.
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