Sunday, September 12, 2010

Tesla and Love




"Yes, I loved that pigeon, I loved her as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. When she was ill I knew, and understood; she came to my room and I stayed beside her for days. I nursed her back to health. That pigeon was the joy of my life. If she needed me, nothing else mattered. As long as I had her, there was a purpose in my life." Nikola Tesla

It's a familiar story, of how Tesla loved a pigeon who settled outside his window. When I first read that quote while researching a book I laughed and shook my head. But that was a few years ago. Then, for a few years after, it made me sad. Now it makes me smile and admire him a little more. Do you think such a capacity for love was connected in some way to his genius? I can't decide.

(The image is said to be the very pigeon he loved.)

5 comments:

  1. Hi John! Good to see you adding more to your webpage. I love stories about Tesla. I wrote a poem called "Tesla's Pigeon Wife" he was a fascinating man, and would have died rich if he'd been a selfish asshole like Edison, but you don't hear very much about that part of Edison (like how he electrocuted an elephant to show how deadly and dangerous Tesla's alternating currents were) *wrote a poem about the electrocuted elephant too.* lol. well, not lol...rather disturbing really. He was a brilliant man...if a tad insane.

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  2. Hi,

    Forgive me for commenting on an old post rather than a new one but this story about Tesla and the pigeon is really quite endearing. I hadn't heard it before.

    I also wanted to say thanks for having my blog on your blogroll. V much appreciated.

    x

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  4. Tesla's pigeon seems to be a long-standing love. Well-deserved!

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