You might have heard that quote about Albert Enistein and James Talmage

I am sure many of you have heard that quote supposedly from Albert Einstein about James Talmage being the smartest man alive being a genius. There are a few variations in how the quote goes, but essentially the story goes something like this: Einstein was asked how it felt to be the smartest man in the world, and he answered, "Ask James Talmage." I have heard/read another version that was 'how it felt to be the world's greatest mathematician.' At any rate, I have always thought this was such a cool quote because I have read or at least almost entirely read two of Talmage's books: Articles of Faith and Jesus the Christ. Anyone who has read any part of those books will know that he was indeed a genius. I can't even begin to describe how smart i could tell he was just by reading his book. I know that is not something you usually say about someone just from having read a book that person wrote, but let me tell you, it is so true in Talmage's case. I am sure anyone reading this blog who has also read his work would agree. Anyways, I decided to find out when and where that quote was from last night, and to my dismay, it would appear that it may not have ever actually happened. I did a lot of researching on people's blogs that go to BYU that have tried to find out where the quote comes from and the general consensus is that it probably never happened. Apparently someone was told the whole story about that quote while getting a golf cart tour at BYU and emailed the school to find out where that could be substantiated, and he got an email from then-president Bateman saying it could not be substantiated. I also read about how unlikely it would be that the two even knew each other. I guess if you do the math and figure out the logistics of how old they were, where Talmage worked while Einstein was in the U.S. and what Talmage's profession was at the University he worked at in Utah etc. it is pretty unlikely that they could have known each other well enough for this story to have happened. And also of course i could't find the quote written in any book or paper. Oh well, i guess it was just one of those myths that starts as something little and gets perpetuated until, in this case, people are talking about it all over the place. Not that any of this matters in any way, it is just interesting. I don't think there is ay doubt thoght that James Talmage was indeed a genius, just read a chapter from any of his books if you don't beleive me.