Quotes from Erno Rubik

In the mid-1970s, I was teaching design at the Academy of Applied Arts in Budapest.

I wanted nothing else than to make the object as perfect as possible.

It was tremendously satisfying to watch this color parade.

Like after a nice walk when you have seen many lovely sights you decide to go home, after a while I decided it was time to go home, let us put the cubes back in order. And it was at that moment that I came face to face with the Big Challenge: What is the way home?

I did not plan to make the Cube.

Now, after the Cube, I still don't have any plans to make anything like it.

I didn't give that name, the Rubik's Cube, and I called it Magic Cube because it's magic.

The Cube was a wonder - a wonder for itself and a wonder for myself. To me, it was much more strange than to anybody else.

The Cube is approximately - it's around the same age as the Internet, and in that time, we had no personal computers yet.

If you have many children, the first one is always different because you can only have one child who is the first. They have different natures and talents for you to love.

I am really not a speedcuber. My best time when I was practicing was about a minute. Usually people say if you can create a piano, you must be a good piano player, but it is not true. They are different type of human activities and need different capabilities.

I'm calling the Cube, it's a piece of art. At the same time, it's an intellectual task as well.

The Cube is an imitation of life itself - or even an improvement on life.

Our whole life is solving puzzles.

My main profession is architect.

A good puzzle, it's a fair thing. Nobody is lying. It's very clear, and the problem depends just on you.

If you are not able to do something, that is true for the present, not for the future. All the time there's a chance to go a step further. Not to be frustrated.

If you are curious, you'll find the puzzles around you. If you are determined, you will solve them.

But thanks to my invention, my capitalist friends and I were able to bring the government to its knees.

The problems of puzzles are very near the problems of life.

In my teaching, I enjoyed creating models to clearly communicate my thoughts.

The Cube can seem alive as it heats up in your hand. The fact that each face of the Cube is made of three layers of three blocks has an important meaning.

I'm wondering how people are so creative, and how many things were born out of and inspired by the Cube.

I don't want to say too many words about the magic of the Cube, because it's basically a mystery. It's like the Mona Lisa smile. It's both complex and very simple at the same time. And, well, people like it. Even today.