Einstein's Mother

"When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If youpsychologist at Harvard) books Creating Minds and
become a soldier, you will become a general. If youLeading Minds throw some light on the factors that
become a monk, then you will end up as Pope.' Instead,influenced many twentieth century world figures:
I became a painter, and wound up as Picasso."Picasso, Einstein, Martha Graham, Alfred P. Sloan,
Famous quote from Pablo Picasso. What did Einstein'sThatcher, Gorbachev, and Gandhi. However, he only
mother say to him?traces the event histories, less the role of education or
Recently, I found a yellowed volume of Jawaharlalparenting.
Nehru's (First Prime Minister of independent India)I am trying to test the following hypothesis: If someone
letters to his daughter, Indira Priyadarshini, at the Fortmeaningful enough to the child (parent, teacher, other
Mason used bookstore in San Francisco. These lettersrole model) believes in his/her potential, and instills that
were written from prison, and as you read them, youbelief in the child, is that the first step in reaching for
would feel a father preparing his beloved daughter forGreatness or for world class achievement?
becoming a world leader. Indira Gandhi, of course, wentAnd then, if the hypothesis is true, how can this be
on to also become a Prime Minister of India.worked into the educational system, products, and
I have always been intrigued by the question: What isservices to give a much larger set of youngsters
the model for raising a high-performance child?enough confidence to believe that they can, indeed,
Some of Howard Gardner's (developmenthave a world class destiny?