Einstein's List or How NOT to Save a Marriage

When someone mentions the name Albert Einstein, what comes to mind? Genius? Crazy hair? E=MC2? Inventor of the Theory of Relativity? Most people think of him as a scientific genius who was vastly smarter than the average person. That’s true when it comes to scientific thought. Yet, as evidenced by the list of conditions he sent to his wife of 11 years in an attempt to save their marriage, he had a whole lot to learn about keeping a relationship. Here is his list taken from Lists of Note:

CONDITIONS

A. You will make sure:

1. that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order;

2. that I will receive my three meals regularly in my room;

3. that my bedroom and study are kept neat, and especially that my desk is left for my use only.

B. You will renounce all personal relations with me insofar as they are not completely necessary for social reasons. Specifically, You will forego:

1. my sitting at home with you;

2. my going out or travelling with you.

C. You will obey the following points in your relations with me:

1. you will not expect any intimacy from me, nor will you reproach me in any way;

2. you will stop talking to me if I request it;

3. you will leave my bedroom or study immediately without protest if I request it.

D. You will undertake not to belittle me in front of our children, either through words or behavior.

Despite originally signing the agreement, she left shortly after. Who was the smart one here? We’ve all been in relationships where our needs weren’t being met, but really!? You don’t have to be an Einstein to know when it’s time to leave.

Comment Policy

All comments are moderated by The Feronia Project before they are posted. By registering with our site you agree to keep your comments within our posting guidelines. Ultimately all comments are approved at the discretion of the moderators at The Feronia Project. We’ve borrowed the six guiding principles below from Greenpeace because they really got it right (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?)

1. The Feronia Project welcomes all users to join our community and to comment and treats all members of the community equally.

2. We want The Feronia Project to be home to open, transparent conversations in which people connect, discuss, share ideas, and debate the issues. Site your source if you are contradicting a statement made by the author.

3. We are also committed to maintaining a non-toxic atmosphere. We do not allow profanity, hate speech, nor do we allow speech that advocates or supports hatred or unlawful violence. Likewise, threats of violence or threats to anyone or any group's personal safety are not acceptable. We also do not allow false claims or misleading implications that any individual or group perpetuates hate or unlawful violence.

4. In order to preserve a functional and civil conversation, we do not allow trolls, trollish behavior, or stalking. We do not allow speech that is solely intended to provoke other users, to cause disorder or confusion, or to inhibit regular, on-topic conversation. In this area especially, we defer to the flags left by our users in the context of our growing community reputation system.

5. Be respectful of the blog author and community members by staying on topic with your comments.

6. Members of The Feronia Project deserve to be free from spam, and we do not allow posting the same comment multiple times within one thread or on multiple threads. We also flag and delete all comments containing business solicitations or other advertising of personal interests, blogs, or websites.

Einstein’s List or How NOT to Save a Marriage

Comment Policy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply