Why Einstein hated school?

"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

If there's one thing common among the greatest men in the word, it's the fact that the society always struggled to contain their greatness within the tiny cages of closed-mindedness. And Einstein was no exception.

Born in 1879, the so-called 'genius' Einstein was not a childhood prodigy. In fact, he did not even speak until he was 4 years old. And 'till the age of 9, he used to talk less and often talk to himself which the teachers found weird. They thought he was dull. His school grades were average but never quite astonishing(With exception of mathematics). He hated school and wanted to get over it as soon as possible.

Although Einstein did not find any interest in music when his mother enrolled him for piano lessons, after listening to Mozart and Beethoven he started showing some keen attentiveness in music.

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction."

Einstein loved doing things by his own means and methods instead of hearing his teachers' guidelines. And because of this, he started reading books prior to the classes and started getting good grades. He even studied Euclidean geometry by the age of 12 and differential and integral calculus by the age of 15.

Einstein's mind was simply not made for the normal strict and disciplined environment of the school.

Einstein always had a strong obsession with physics and mathematics. Later he completed his graduation in it. The core value of education according to Einstein was the art of learning how to learn. He used to skip the classes which he did not like. 

His rebellious nature and penchant for skipping classes resulted in professors giving him inferior recommendations upon his graduation. The rest is history.

I'll not dig deep into his achievements and accomplishments, but one thing you will notice after reading his quotes and sayings is that he always preferred imagination over knowledge. Knowledge is limited but imagination can encircle the world. He was always so keen on curiosity since his very childhood.

"Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results"

One thing you will notice about the great personalities is that they always opposed the monotonous system and methods. Instead, they encouraged the techniques which they found interesting. They follow their passion irrespective of the obstacles and struggle.

So, either enjoy what you are doing or do what you enjoy.  By this way, you will be more fulfilled, more productive and eventually succeed. Who knows, maybe someday your story inspire others.