Thomas A. Edison Quotes
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His genius he was quite content in one brief sentence to define; Of inspiration one percent, of perspiration, ninety nine.
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Mr. Edison worked endlessly on a problem, using the method of elimination. If a person asked him if he were discouraged because so many attempts proved unavailing, he would say, "No, I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.".
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Surprises and reverses can serve as an incentive for great accomplishment. There are no rules here, we're just trying to accomplish something.
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The inventor can't do it all, you've got to change people. We have an enormous capacity to invent super-machinery. But our desire to install the device is weak. Human inertia is the problem, not invention. Something in man makes him resist change.
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When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.
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I was at the foot of my class.
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All bibles are man-made.
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The perils of overwork are slight compared with the dangers of inactivity.
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None of my inventions came by accident. I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial until it comes. What it boils down to is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
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I never knew I had an inventive talent until Phrenology told me so. I was a stranger to myself until then!
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The injurious agent in cigarettes comes principally from the burning paper wrapper. The substance thereby formed is called "acrolein." It has a violent action on the nerve centers, producing degeneration of the cells of the brain, which is quite rapid among boys. Unlike most narcotics, this degeneration is permanent and uncontrollable. I employ no person who smokes cigarettes.
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Every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
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The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.
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I never failed. It just didn't work 10,000 times.
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The dove is my emblem.
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Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.
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I would construct and work along various lines until I found them untenable. When one theory was discarded, I developed another at once. I realized very early that this was the only possible way for me to work out all the problems.
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Genius? Nothing! Sticking to it is the genius! ... I've failed my way to success.
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Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged.
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This problem, once solved, will be simple.
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Through all the years of experimenting and research, I never once made a discovery. I start where the last man left off... All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention pure and simple.
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I did not fail two thousand times. I merely found two thousand ways not to make a lightbulb.
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I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom. Seventy-five of us worked twenty hours every day and slept only four hours - and thrived on it.
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Being busy does not always mean real work.