Richard Feynman — "I was never a very good student, and I always had trouble with math. I was alway…"
I was never a very good student, and I always had trouble with math. I was always in the bottom of the class in math.
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More from Richard Feynman
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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
Brilliant achievement doesn't require a perfect academic record. The speaker admits to being a poor student who struggled with math — the very subject his genius later mastered. It's a humbling acknowledgment that conventional school performance is a poor predictor of real-world intellectual contribution. Curiosity, persistence, and the ability to think from first principles matter far more than grades or class rankings ever did.
Relevance to Richard Feynman
Feynman won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for quantum electrodynamics, yet claimed persistent math struggles. He famously rebuilt physics concepts from scratch rather than memorizing textbooks, teaching himself calculus as a teenager in rural New York. His unconventional path — from MIT to the Manhattan Project to Caltech — was driven by raw curiosity over academic achievement. This self-deprecation reflects his lifelong distrust of rote learning and credential-chasing.
The era
Feynman came of age in the 1930s–40s, when American schools emphasized standardized testing and rigid curricula. Post-WWII saw massive federal investment in science education following Sputnik's launch in 1957, creating enormous pressure to identify and rank mathematical talent early. In this era of academic sorting, admitting you were a poor math student carried real stigma — making Feynman's candor both countercultural and reassuring to generations of self-doubting students.
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