“Creativity is the residue of time wasted” (Einstein?)

“Creativity is the residue of time wasted” has been attributed to the physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) since at least 2006. Jonah Lehrer has popularized the quotation in interviews about his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works (2012). There is no evidence that Einstein said this quotation or anything like it.
 
“Creativity is the residue of time wasted” has been used in science and business to mean that people need some “wasted” time to dream and imagine their ideas.
       
Another popular saying containing the word “residue” is “Luck is the residue of design.”
     
     
The Hidden Fortress
Mackie
Posted 06 March 2006 - 01:38 PM
Creativity is the residue of time wasted Albert Einstein
   
31 March 2006, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Quick, slow down!: It’s a simple cure for a world hooked on cellphones, e-mail and a need for speed” by Edward M. Hallowell, pg. B13:
As that slowpoke Einstein said, “Creativity is the residue of time wasted.”
 
Wands and Worlds
How do you make bold here?
Submitted by crescentmoon on Thu, 2008-01-31 15:01.
(...)
Creativity is the residue of time wasted. - A. Einstein
 
Google Books
Imagine:
How Creativity Works
By Jonah Lehrer
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2012
Pg. 25:
Creativity is the residue of time wasted. —Albert Einstein
   
Barnes and Noble Review
March 19, 2012
“The residue of time wasted”: Jonah Lehrer Talks Creativity
A Conversation with Bill Tipper
(...)
JL: And here’s where the science comes in handy. Now, when I’m really stuck, I think about all that research on moments of insight which suggests that insights are far more likely to arrive when we’re relaxed, and better able to eavesdrop on the murmurs of the unconscious. Instead of staying at my desk, I go for a long walk. Einstein once declared that “creativity is the residue of time wasted.” So I guess you could say I’ve gotten much better at wasting time.