Nobel vs Noble

Ronald Ssebalamu
3 min readSep 10, 2023

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Alfred Nobel prize medal
Photo by Anastacia Dvi on Unsplash

In today’s write up, we are going to delve into the two commonly misinterpreted words, and that is “Nobel” and “Noble”.

Have you ever asked yourself what these two words mean?

Nobel

I am pretty sure you have ever heard of the Nobel Prize, — a prize offered to individuals who have shown their eminence in Chemistry , Engineering , Physics, and the like.

It all starts with the story of a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor , businessman, and philanthropist, Alfred Nobel pronounced as (noh-BEL,). He is famously known for having created the dynamite and later offered his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize. With over 355 patents registered to his name for his contribution to science, Alfred Nobel stands out as one of the remarkable scientists of our generation.

Aside from the engineering of the massive weapons such as dynamite , a stabilized form of nitroglycerin, he left behind the a legacy of the Nobel Prize, — a reward towards the discoveries that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.

It is believed the Nobel prize is the greatest inspiration and legacy that Alfred left us all. With close to over hundreds of laureates as well as millions of prize moneys offered to winners since 1901. It’s right to say that it has remained such a relevant form of appreciation to individuals that have shown massive impact in their different fields of endeavor towards humankind.

Lessons we can learn from Alfred Nobel

Dedication to Peace — The need to incentivize efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts through diplomacy , dialogue and cooperation led to Nobel’s decision to include a peace prize in the awards.

Global Perspective — The Prize recognizes the contributions from individuals and groups of people from all around the world who have shown powers in matters concerning humankind.

Scientific and Literary Excellence — The need to push for innovations in the boundaries of human knowledge and creativity has been awarded for what its’ worth. This has promoted excellence in the different fields of science and literature.

Inspiration and Aspirations — Nobel’s legacy and knowledge keeps on to inspire individuals to pursue knowledge and work towards a better world.

Philanthropy — The habit of using wealth and influence for positive change , this has been evident in Nobel’s willingness to fund the Prizes using his own fortune is a true definition of using wealth and influence to impact the world.

Noble

This is pronounced as ˈnəʊbl means having or showing fine personal qualities that people admire, such as courage, honesty and care for others.

It is used in different scenarios for instance;

  • A persons died for a noble cause.
  • A noble leader and so on.

Conclusion

While these two words may look similar, they represent different concepts.

Nobel represents a Swedish engineer, scientist and philanthropist who created the Nobel prize to award individuals for their contribution to humankind , while noble is a term that represents ethical and virtuous attributes.

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