On Tesla’s 75th birthday in 1931 he was featured on the cover of Time magazine. The magazine requested comments from his peers and Einstein politely responded with, “As an eminent pioneer in the realm of high frequency currents… I congratulate you on the great successes of your life’s work.” It was a very short and to the point birthday message from a gracious Einstein.

In the poem “Fragments of Olympian Gossip” that Nikola Tesla composed for his friend, George Sylvester Viereck, Tesla was very critical of the scientists of his day.

Tesla specifically calls out Einstein:

“Now a long haired crank, Einstein by name,
Puts on your high teaching all the blame.”

In 1935 in comments to The New York Times, Tesla was critical of Einstein stating that his theory of relativity was “like a beggar clothed in purple, whom ignorant people take for a king.”

There was no love lost between Tesla and Einstein. The story is often told that when Einstein was asked how it felt to be the smartest man on Earth, Einstein replied, “I wouldn’t know. Ask Nikola Tesla”.

I have seen the quote often, and have searched for its origin, and have yet to find it. Put in the context of the relationship between Einstein and Tesla, if Einstein did utter those words, it would make sense that it was done sarcastically, rather than as a compliment.