15 Quotes & Sayings By Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October 1833. He was the fifth child of Immanuel Nobel, a chemist and engineer, and Anna Beata Lagerkvist. He was educated at home until age 15, when he began attending the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. After graduation in 1854 he worked for four years at an ironworks before leaving for Paris to further his education Read more

At that time there were no universities in Sweden, so Nobel studied privately for several more years. In 1864 he returned to Sweden and spent the next six years working for his father's firm, earning a modest income from investments made on his behalf by his father. He also helped manage the family's ironworks. Nobel made his first invention in 1866 while working at the ironworks -- a process for manufacturing phosphorus matches.

The patent he obtained in the course of this work was assigned to him by his father, who detested him because of his strong personality and independent nature. In 1868 Nobel invented a light-sensitive explosive that he called "detonator" (which is now known as guncotton or nitroglycerin). At that time many people believed that nitroglycerin could be used as a powerful explosive but not as a propellant and could not be detonated by heat (they thought it necessary to use a shock wave). The detonator also involved special safety precautions because it might explode even though it had been accidentally dropped or mishandled.

Nobel was aware of these dangers and had safety instructions printed with the patent application; nevertheless, the patent was rejected by both Swedish and U.S. authorities as unsafe because it might explode (this is known as "unobtanium" or "unkindness"). Nobel's Detonator succeeded only in hardening his father's heart against him and made him determined to find some other means to establish himself financially. In 1870 Nobel submitted another application for a patent covering explosives and received another rejection from Swedish authorities who were afraid of its potential military uses.

The same year he sold an improved detonator to the U.S., which granted him one-quarter of all profits from its sale during its first three years on the market -- $10,000 (about $3,100,000 today). In 1872 Nobel became interested in nitroglycerin again but failed to interest others in its commercial possibilities until 1878 when Charles Hall, Jr., an

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The capital. . shall form a fund, the interest of which shall be distributed annually as prizes to those persons who shall have rendered humanity the best services during the past year.. One-fifth to the person having made the most important discovery or invention in the science of physics, one-fifth to the person who has made the most eminent discovery or improvement in chemistry, one-fifth to the one having made the most important discovery with regard to physiology or medicine, one-fifth to the person who has produced the most distinguished idealistic work of literature, and one-fifth to the person who has worked the most or best for advancing the fraternization of all nations and for abolishing or diminishing the standing armies as well as for the forming or propagation of committees of peace. Alfred Nobel
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The day when two army corps can annihilate each other in one second, all civilized nations, it is to be hoped, will recoil from war and discharge their troops. Alfred Nobel
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I am a misanthrope, but exceedingly benevolent; I am very cranky, and am a super-idealist.... I can digest philosophy better than food. Alfred Nobel
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Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness. Alfred Nobel
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The first time I saw nitroglycerine was in the beginning of the Crimean War. Professor Zinin in St. Petersburg exhibited some to my father and me, and struck some on an anvil to show that only the part touched by the hammer exploded without spreading. Alfred Nobel
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Home is where I work, and I work everywhere. Alfred Nobel
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I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results. Alfred Nobel
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A heart can no more be forced to love than a stomach can be forced to digest food by persuasion. Alfred Nobel
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I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent, have more than one screw loose yet am a super-idealist who digests philosophy more efficiently than food. Alfred Nobel
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If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied. Alfred Nobel
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One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge. Alfred Nobel
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Justice is to be found only in imagination. Alfred Nobel
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Good wishes alone will not ensure peace. Alfred Nobel
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I have not the slightest pretension to call my verses poetry I write now and then for no other purpose than to relieve depression or to improve my English. Alfred Nobel