Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character

by Richard P. Feynman

I was always dumb in that way. I never knew who I was talking to. I was always worried about the physics. If the idea looked lousy, I said it looked lousy. If it looked good, I said it looked good. Simple proposition. I’ve always lived that way. It’s nice, it’s pleasant—if you can do it. I’m lucky in my life that I can do this.

You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing.

You see, I get such fun out of thinking that I don’t want to destroy this most pleasant machine that makes life such a big kick.