Thomas Edison Quotes
25 quotes
Thomas Edison
American inventor and businessman
25 Quotes
What you are will show in what you do
— As quoted in Forbes Magazine, 1922
Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress
— Edison, His Life and Inventions
The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around
— As quoted in Thomas Edison: A Great Life in Brief by I. Bernard Cohen
We don't know one millionth of one percent about anything
— Interview, The New York Times, 1929
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration
— Harper's Monthly, 1932
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work
— As quoted in Thomas Edison: Inspiration and Hard Work
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time
— Edison: His Life and Inventions
The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease
— The Newark Advocate, January 31, 1903
The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary
— The Yale Book of Quotations
Be courageous! I have seen many depressions in business. Always, America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!
— Public Statement, 1932
Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success
— Harper's Monthly, 1890
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
— As quoted in Edison: Inventing the Century by Neil Baldwin
Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless
— Edison: His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin
The value of an idea lies in the using of it
— As quoted in Edison: His Life and Inventions
There's a way to do it better—find it
— As quoted in Edison: His Life and Inventions
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work
— Interview with Harper's Magazine
Great ideas originate in the muscles
— Edison: His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin
Hell, there are no rules here—we're trying to accomplish something
— Edison: Inventing the Century (Neil Baldwin)
Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits
— Scribner's Magazine, 1901
I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work
— Edison As I Know Him (Henry Ford)
I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and try to invent it
— Handbook of Edison and His Inventions by Thomas Commerford Martin
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk
— Attributed in multiple biographies
Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages
— The Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison
Discontent is the first necessity of progress
— As quoted in Edison: His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up
— As quoted in Edison: A Biography by Matthew Josephson