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Who really said it

I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy

Written by Marie Curie 1867–1934 · Physicist and chemist, two-time Nobel laureate
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From her Autobiographical Notes, printed with her biography Pierre Curie (New York: Macmillan, 1923). The original reads “I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy; it required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice.” The popular version slightly rewords the first sentence and cuts off the second.

Last verified 2 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy” Marie Curie, "Autobiographical Notes," ch. 2, in Pierre Curie, trans. Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg (New York: Macmillan, 1923). · Verbatim: “I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy; it required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice.”

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Provenance

The documented source

Work
Pierre Curie, with Autobiographical Notes by Marie Curie
Section
Autobiographical Notes, Chapter II
Published
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923
Translation
Title page credits Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg as translators

But of course the care of my children’s education was only a part of my duties, my professional occupations taking most of my time. I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy; it required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice. However, the family bond has been preserved between me and my now grown-up daughters, and life is made brighter by the mutual affection and understanding in our home, where I could not suffer a harsh word or selfish behavior. Autobiographical Notes, ch. II

Transcribed from the Project Gutenberg text of the 1923 Macmillan edition. The bold text is the part usually quoted. The popular version says “frequently been” where she wrote “been frequently”, adds “of” before “how”, and ends at “not been easy”.

Pierre Curie (1923) full text at Project Gutenberg

How we traced it

  • The Project Gutenberg edition of Pierre Curie (Macmillan, 1923) contains the sentence word for word in the Autobiographical Notes, Chapter II. Gutenberg plain text ↗
  • The Internet Archive has a scan of the 1923 Macmillan printing. Its catalog record lists Marie Curie as author and Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg as associated names. Internet Archive scan ↗
  • Wikiquote keeps the popular wording on its Marie Curie talk page under “Unsourced”, so it is not on the main page. A 2019 reply there names Pierre Curie: With Autobiographical Notes as the likely source. Wikiquote talk page ↗
Public domain

The line comes from Pierre Curie, published in New York by Macmillan in 1923 (“Copyright, 1923, By Marie Curie”). Anything published before 1931 is in the US public domain, and Project Gutenberg ↗ marks this edition “Public domain in the USA.” The English text shown here is the 1923 edition's own. Its title page credits translators, and that translation was published in the same year.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Real quote, reworded

Marie Curie really wrote this. The version that gets shared is a slightly altered and shortened copy of her sentence.

Popular version: “I have frequently been questioned … of how I could reconcile” Reworded

The 1923 text reads “I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career.” The popular version reorders “been frequently” and adds an ungrammatical “of”. 1923 text ↗

Ending at “it has not been easy” Cut short

Her sentence goes on after a semicolon: “it required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice.” She then says the family bond with her grown daughters had been preserved. 1923 text ↗

Quote collections that list it with no source Unsourced

Wikiquote lists the popular wording as “Unsourced” on its talk page. A 2019 reply there points to Pierre Curie: With Autobiographical Notes. Wikiquote talk page ↗

Marie Curie wrote it in her Autobiographical Notes, Chapter II, printed in Pierre Curie (New York: Macmillan, 1923). Read it at Project Gutenberg ↗

Context

Why it mattered

The line comes from the short autobiography Marie Curie added to the English edition of her book about her husband. She opens it: “I have been asked by my American friends to write the story of my life.” In the same opening paragraph she calls her life one “which has not been easy on the whole.” The family-life passage comes in Chapter II, just after she describes arranging her daughters’ schooling and their physical education.

The full passage is less tidy than the meme version. She admits that combining children and a laboratory “required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice,” and then says the family bond with her “now grown-up daughters” had been preserved.

Well, it has not been easy; it required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice.

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Pierre Curie (1923), full textgutenberg.org

Free full text of the Macmillan edition, including Marie Curie's Autobiographical Notes, where the line appears.
1923 Macmillan scanarchive.org

Scanned copy of the 1923 New York printing, with catalog details.
Talk:Marie Curie (Unsourced list)en.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote's list of unsourced Curie quotes, including the popular wording and a 2019 note pointing to the book.
Marie Curie on Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote's sourced Curie quotations and its Misattributed section.
Marie Curie biographyen.wikipedia.org

Background on her life, work and two Nobel Prizes.

The author

About Marie Curie

Marie Curie

1867–1934 · Polish-born French physicist and chemist

Marie Curie (born Maria Skłodowska) was the pioneer of radioactivity research who won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1903) and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1911). After her husband Pierre died, she wrote his biography. Its English edition, Pierre Curie (1923), also carried her own short Autobiographical Notes, which she says she wrote because “my American friends” asked for the story of her life.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Curie, Marie. “Autobiographical Notes,” chap. 2. In Pierre Curie, translated by Charlotte and Vernon Kellogg. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1923.

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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I have frequently been questioned, especially by women, of how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-have-frequently-been-questioned-especially-by-women-of/

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