The following was a transcript of an interview shortly before Nobel's death.
What drove you to have a passion in business and inventing at such a young age?
Nobel: My motivation was that my father, Immanuel Nobel, encouraged me to keep following my passions. I was born in hard times, you see. Though he couldn't afford a proper schooling, he chose a bunch of private teachers to assist with my learning. They encouraged my interests that would soon grow into jobs and piqued my curiosity in politics and literature.
What, in your opinion, are the highlights of your career?
Nobel: There was one time when I founded a range of businesses like 'Alfred Nobel & Company'. I was also acquainted to Paul Barbe who aided me in the further distribution of my brilliant new innovation – dynamite. I described him as a person "with excellent capacity for work, but whose conscience is more elastic than rubber." But naturally, the most eventful moments are those when you're ecstatic when you perfect an invention – 355 of them in fact!
Can you explain a little about one of your inventions – 'dynamite'?
Nobel: It all revolves around experiments with nitroglycerin, which was discovered by the Italian Ascanio Sobrero. Despite prior warnings about the explosive dangers from him, I wanted to tame this sinister liquid. My work paid off in 1862, when I found that mixing this compound with diatomite would produce a fierce yet controlled explosion.
What has inspired or motivated you throughout your professions?
Nobel: If you ask me, I was inspired partially by my father who bolstered my interests in chemistry. It was his locked struggle trying to create the perfect explosive that gave me the will to keep going and (hopefully) do better. I thought that his experiments were only on the small scale, though.
Were there any significant hardships in your life?
Nobel: Immanuel was struck by financial difficulties, and our house, our run-down old house in our run-down impoverished community, barely sheltered us at all. When I created dynamite, my brother Emil had enrolled as an intern. Shortly after, he had perished in a blast that involved a mishandling of the explosives. Also, when I was mistaken to have died, due to my infamous work with explosives, I was declared "Merchant of Death". My career was harsh, but I got along well enough.
How were the Nobel Prizes created?
Nobel: I was born into a family of eight brothers, only four surviving to adulthood due to the horrific conditions. When one more – Ludvig – died, some newspapers thought I'd perished instead. They announced that "Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." This drove me to create the Nobel Prizes that, annually, would commend others who had excelled in their professions. I had felt that I should do something to compensate for all the lives lost by my inventions.
Did you hold an interest in any of the current categories in the Nobel Prizes?
Nobel: Yes. I had always had an interest in science, and some categories like chemistry were my professions. My passion for literature lasted to adulthood, I'd even written an unpublished poem titled "You Say I Am a Riddle". Many people believe the Peace Prize was meant as a recompense to the numerous fatalities caused by my explosives.
What did you envision your inventions would do?
Nobel: I wished that I would be 'a world changer'. My dynamite, I thought, would support the industry. Instead, I passed through all that struggle, all that tinkering with nitroglycerin to find that my innovations, my creations, had the potential to slaughter. My horror led me to found the world's most prominent prize.
What are your hopes for the future?
Nobel: I hope that someday the world would come to realise that I had never imagined my dynamite would be treated this way: I'm famous for creating a weapon. I quoted: "My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace." So my hopes for the future is to at least have a better reputation.
Why could you be considered notable?
Nobel: One of the factors that I could be considered notable is that despite my decreasing reputation I strove to do my best no matter what. Through hardships, I established a prize to honour others, dedicating over 90% of my fortune to this worthy cause. I may be overly modest here, but it's a little funny why some people consider me as notable for my inventions. Though I 'changed the world' by creating explosives, I didn't really make it better either. Of course I did not intend for my innovations to be used in war. However, I am still remembered today. And that's something worth smiling about, isn't it?