Background Image
Oh These Mathematicians Make Me Tired! When You Ask Them To Work Out A Sum They Take A Piece Of Paper, Cover It With Rows Of A's, B's, And X's And Y's ... Scatter A Mess Of Flyspecks Over Them, And Then Give You An Answer That's All Wrong!
-Thomas A. Edison
Please Wait....
Translating....

Oh These Mathematicians Make

Thomas A. Edison
Oh These Mathematicians Make Me Tired! When You Ask Them To Work Out A Sum They Take A Piece Of Paper, Cover It With Rows Of A's, B's, And X's And Y's ... Scatter A Mess Of Flyspecks Over Them, And Then Give You An Answer That's All Wrong!
Views: 3
Topic
Tired
Science
Giving
More From Thomas A. Edison
I Can Never Pick Up A Thing Without Wishing To Improve It.
Wish
Picks
I Can
In 'common Sense' Paine Flared Forth With A Document So Powerful That The Revolution Became Inevitable. Washington Recognized The Difference, And In His Calm Way Said That Matters Never Could Be The Same Again.
Powerful
Differences
Common Sense
Fools Call Wise Men Fools. A Wise Man Never Calls Any Man A Fool.
Inspirational
Wise
Men
Genius? Nothing! Sticking To It Is The Genius! ... I've Failed My Way To Success.
Genius
Way
My Way
I Believe In The Existence Of A Supreme Intelligence Pervading The Universe.
Believe
Existence
Supreme
One Might Think That The Money Value Of An Invention Constitutes Its Reward To The Man Who Loves His Work. But... I Continue To Find My Greatest Pleasure, And So My Reward, In The Work That Precedes What The World Calls Success.
Love
Inspirational
Success
Negative Results Are Just What I Want. They’re Just As Valuable To Me As Positive Results. I Can Never Find The Thing That Does The Job Best Until I Find The Ones That Don’t.
Success
Jobs
Failure
I Never Quit Until I Get What I Want.
Want
Never Quit
Quitting
The Secret Of Success Is Focus Of Purpose.
Focus
Secret
Purpose
Personally, I Enjoy Working About 18 Hours A Day. Besides The Short Catnaps I Take Each Day, I Average About Four To Five Hours Of Sleep Per Night.
Inspirational
Motivational
Sleep
Continued Innovation Is The Best Way To Beat The Competition.
Competition
Innovation
Way
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.
Twenties
Four
Facts
To My Mind The Old Masters Are Not Art; Their Value Is In Their Scarcity.
Art
Philosophy
History
Seeming To Do Is Not Doing.
Seeming
The Endeavor To Change Universal Power By Selfish Supplication I Do Not Believe In.
Selfish
Believe
Religion
Nineteen Hundred And Three Will Bring Great Advances In Surgery, In The Study Of Bacteria, In The Knowledge Of The Cause And Prevention Of Disease. Medicine Is Played Out. Every New Discovery Of Bacteria Shows Us All The More Convincingly That We Have Been Wrong And That The Million Tons Of Stuff We Have Taken Was All Useless.
Taken
Discovery
Medicine
The Brain Can Be Developed Just The Same As The Muscles Can Be Developed, If On Will Only Take The Pains To Train The Mind To Think.
Pain
Thinking
Brain
I Never Once Made A Discovery ... I Speak Without Exaggeration That I Have Constructed Three Thousand Different Theories In Connection With The Electric Light ... Yet In Only Two Cases Did My Experiments Prove The Truth Of My Theory.
Light
Discovery
Two
If The Nation Can Issue A Dollar Bond It Can Issue A Dollar Bill. The Element That Makes The Bond Good Makes The Bill Good Also. The Difference Between The Bond And The Bill Is That The Bond Lets The Money Broker Collect Twice The Amount Of The Bond And An Additional 20%. Whereas The Currency, The Honest Sort Provided By The Constitution Pays Nobody But Those Who Contribute In Some Useful Way. It Is Absurd To Say Our Country Can Issue Bonds And Cannot Issue Currency. Both Are Promises To Pay, But One Fattens The Usurer And The Other Helps The People.
Country
Money
Differences
Be Courageous! Have Faith! Go Forward.
Motivational
Courage
Have Faith
Unfortunately, There Seems To Be Far More Opportunity Out There Than Ability.... We Should Remember That Good Fortune Often Happens When Opportunity Meets With Preparation.
Inspirational
Motivational
Success
There Is Far More Opportunity Than There Is Ability.
Courage
Opportunity
Ability
The Three Things That Are Most Essential To Achievement Are Common Sense, Hard Work And Stick-to-it-iv-ness... Unfortunately, Many Of Life's Failures Are Experienced By People Who Did Not Realize How Close They Were To Success When They Gave Up. I Have Far More Respect For The Person With A Single Idea Who Gets There Than For The Person With A Thousand Ideas Who Does Nothing.
Hard Work
Adventure
Ideas
I Have Not Failed 700 Times. I Have Not Failed Once. I Have Succeeded In Proving That Those 700 Ways Will Not Work. When I Have Eliminated The Ways That Will Not Work, I Will Find The Way That Will Work.
Inspirational
Failure
Way
I Remember That I Was Never Able To Get Along At School. I Was At The Foot Of The Class.
Education
School
Class
It Is The People Who Constitute The Basis Of Government Credit. Why Then Cannot The People Have Benefit Of Their Own Gilt-edge Credit By Receiving Non-interest Bearing Currency-instead Of Bankers Receiving The Benefit Of The People's Credit In Interest-bearing Bonds. If The United States Government Will Adopt This Policy Of Increasing Its National Wealth Without Contributing To The Interest Collector-for The Whole National Debt Is Made Up On Interest Charges-then You Will See An Era Of Progress And Prosperity In This Country Such As Could Never Have Come Otherwise.
Country
Government
People
My Principal Business Is Giving Commercial Value To The Brilliant - But Misdirected - Ideas Of Others.
Motivational
Ideas
Giving
I Am A Vegetarian As Well As A Passionate Anti-alcoholic, Because I Can Thus Make Better Use Of My Brain.
Animal
Brain
Passionate
A Teacher Sent The Following Note Home With A Six-year-old Boy 'he Is Too Stupid To Learn.' That Boy Was Thomas A. Edison.
Teacher
Stupid
Home
I Am 67, But I'm Not Too Old To Make A Fresh Start.
Life
Motivational
Fresh Start
There Seems To Be No Limit To Which Some Men Will Go To Avoid The Labor Of Thinking. Thinking Is Hard Work.
Hard Work
Men
Thinking
I Am Both Pleased But Astonished By The Fact That Mankind Has Not Yet Begun To Use All The Means And Devices That Are Available For Destruction. I Hope That Such Weapons Are Never Manufactured In Quantity.
Motivational
Mean
Use
Never Go To Sleep Without A Request To Your Subconscious.
Sleep
Mind
Subconscious
Youth Doesn't Take Advice.
Advice
Youth
During All Those Years Of Experimentation And Research, I Never Once Made A Discovery. All My Work Was Deductive, And The Results I Achieved Were Those Of Invention, Pure And Simple. I Would Construct A Theory And Work On Its Lines Until I Found It Was Untenable. Then It Would Be Discarded At Once And Another Theory Evolved. This Was The Only Possible Way For Me To Work Out The Problem.
Simple
Discovery
Years
It Is Very Beautiful Over There. (last Words)
Beautiful
Lasts
Last Words
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.
Science
Boys
Cells
I Love Great Music And Art, But I Think 'cubist' Songs And Paintings Are Hideous.
Motivational
Song
Art
I Cannot Believe In The Immortality Of The Soul. No, All This Talk Of An Existence For Us, As Individuals, Beyond The Grave Is Wrong. It Is Born Of Our Tenacity Of Life - Our Desire To Go On Living - Our Dread Of Coming To An End.
Atheist
Believe
Soul
There Is A Better Way To Do It - Find It!
Way
Better Ways
The Radio Craze Will Die Out In Time.
Radio
Craze
Dies
There Is No Limit To Which A Man Will Not Go To Avoid Thinking.
Men
Thinking
Limits
We Have Merely Scratched The Surface Of The Store Of Knowledge Which Will Come To Us. I Believe That We Are Now, A-tremble On The Verge Of Vast Discoveries - Discoveries So Wondrously Important They Will Upset The Present Trend Of Human Thought And Start It Along Completely New Lines .
Motivational
Believe
Discovery
Being Busy Does Not Always Mean Real Work. The Object Of All Work Is Production Or Accomplishment And To Either Of These Ends There Must Be Forethought, System, Planning, Intelligence, And Honest Purpose, As Well As Perspiration. Seeming To Do Is Not Doing.
Inspirational
Motivational
Real
Vision Without Execution Is Delusion.
Positive
Vision
Execution
The Chief Function Of The Body Is To Carry The Brain Around.
Brain
Mind
Body
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.
Motivational
Positive
Perseverance
There Is A Better Way For Everything. Find It.
Inspirational
Way
Better Ways
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.
Men
People
Desire
The Only Time I Really Become Discouraged Is When I Think Of All The Things I Would Like To Do And The Little Time I Have In Which To Do Them.
Motivational
Thinking
Littles
My Success Is Due More To My Ability To Work Continuously On One Thing Without Stopping Than To Any Other Single Quality.
Quality
Stopping
Ability
It Is Absurd To Say That Our Country Can Issue $30,000,000 In Bonds And Not $30,000,000 In Currency. Both Are Promises To Pay; But One Promise Fattens The Usurer (banker), And The Other Helps The People. If The Currency Issued By The Government Were No Good, Then The Bonds Issued Would Be No Good Either. It Is A Terrible Situation When The Government, To Increase The National Wealth, Must Go Into Debt And Submit To Ruinous Interest Charges At The Hands Of Men Who Control The Fictitious Values Of Gold.
Country
Men
Issues
Genius Is 1 Percent Inspiration, 99 Percent Perspiration.
Inspirational
Educational
Genius
I Never Knew I Had An Inventive Talent Until Phrenology Told Me So. I Was A Stranger To Myself Until Then!
Phrenology
Talent
Stranger
Education Isn't Play--and It Can't Be Made To Look Like Play. It Is Hard, Hard Work. But It Can Be Made Interesting Work.
Education
Hard Work
Play
An Average American Loves His Family. If He Has Any Love Left Over For Some Other Person, He Generally Selects Mark Twain.
Average
Mark
Persons
I Think That Ingersoll Had All The Attributes Of A Perfect Man, And, In My Opinion, No Finer Personality Ever Existed. Judging From The Past, I Cannot Help Thinking That The Intention Of The Supreme Intelligence That Rules The World Is To Ultimately Make Such A Type Of Man Universal.
Past
Men
Thinking
A Genius Is A Talented Person Who Does His Homework.
Ballet
Doe
Genius
Anything That Won't Sell, I Don't Want To Invent. Its Sale Is Proof Of Utility, And Utility Is Success.
Inspirational
Positive
Business
We Will Make Electricity So Cheap That Only The Rich Will Burn Candles.
Inspirational
Rich
Electricity
The Trouble With Most People Is That They Quit Before They Start.
Thinking
People
Quitting
The First Requisite For Success Is To Develop The Ability To Focus And Apply Your Mental And Physical Energies To The Problem At Hand - Without Growing Weary. Because Such Thinking Is Often Difficult, There Seems To Be No Limit To Which Some People Will Go To Avoid The Effort And Labor That Is Associated With It.
Motivational
Meaningful
Thinking
Show Me A Thoroughly Satisfied Man - And I Will Show You A Failure.
Success
Educational
Failure
Every Wrong Attempt Discarded Is Another Step Forward
Perseverance
Determination
Failure
Perhaps Dandruff Is The Excreta Of The Mind — The Quantity Of This Material Being Directly Proportional To The Amount Of Reading One Indulges In. A Book On German Metaphysics Would Thus Easily Ruin A Dress Suit.
Book
Reading
Indulge In
Results! Why, Man, I Have Gotten A Lot Of Results. I Know Several Thousand Things That Won't Work.
Motivational
Education
Work
The Doctor Of The Future Will No Longer Treat The Human Frame With Drugs, But Rather Will Cure And Prevent Disease With Nutrition.
Motivational
Fitness
Health
The First Requisite For Success Is To Develop The Ability To Focus.
Focus
Firsts
Ability
I Make More Mistakes Than Anyone Else I Know, And Sooner Or Later, I Patent Most Of Them.
Funny Inspirational
Mistake
Creativity
Genius Is One Percent Inspiration And Ninety-nine Percent Perspiration. As A Result, A Genius Is Often A Talented Person Who Has Simply Done All Of His Homework.
Inspirational
Motivational
Ninety Nine
To Those Searching For Truth -- Not The Truth Of Dogma And Darkness But The Truth Brought By Reason, Search, Examination, And Inquiry, Discipline Is Required. For Faith, As Well Intentioned As It May Be, Must Be Built On Facts, Not Fiction -- Faith In Fiction Is A Damnable False Hope.
Faith
Discipline
Darkness
Life's Most Soothing Things Are A Child's Goodnight And Sweet Music.
Motivational
Sweet
Children
Because Ideas Have To Be Original Only With Regard To Their Adaptation To The Problem At Hand, I Am Always Extremely Interested In How Others Have Used Used Them.
Motivational
Hands
Ideas
Books Will Soon Be Obsolete In The Schools... Our School System Will Be Completely Changed In The Next Ten Years.
Book
School
Years
The Greatest Discoveries Will Be Along Spiritual Lines. This Is The Field Where Miracles Are Going To Happen. Spiritual Power Is The Greatest Underdeveloped Power And Has The Greatest Future.
Spiritual
Discovery
Miracle
Inspiration Can Be Found In A Pile Of Junk. Sometimes, You Can Put It Together With A Good Imagination And Invent Something.
Inspiration
Imagination
Together
I Have Had A Lot Of Success With Failure
Accomplishing Something Provides The Only Real Satisfaction In Life.
Real
Satisfaction In Life
Satisfaction
Being Busy Does Not Always Mean Real Work.
Real
Mean
Infinite Intelligence
I Start Where The Last Man Left Off. What The Mind Of Man Can Conceive And Believe, The Mind Of A Man Can Achieve.
Believe
Men
Mind
What You Are Will Show In What You Do.
Motivation
Action
Human Nature
Great Ideas Originate In The Muscles.
Life
Motivation
Work
Oh These Mathematicians Make Me Tired! When You Ask Them To Work Out A Sum They Take A Piece Of Paper, Cover It With Rows Of A's, B's, And X's And Y's ... Scatter A Mess Of Flyspecks Over Them, And Then Give You An Answer That's All Wrong!
Tired
Science
Giving
Nature Is Truly Wonderful. Only Man Is Truly Foul.
Men
Wonderful
Foul
The Stomach Is The Only Part Of Man Which Can Be Fully Satisfied. The Yearning Of Man's Brain For New Knowledge And Experience And For More Pleasant And Comfortable Surroundings Never Can Be Completely Met. It Is An Appetite Which Cannot Be Appeased.
Men
Brain
Surroundings
To Have A Great Idea, Have A Lot Of Them.
Positive
Smart
Failure
The Great Trouble Is That The Preachers Get The Children From Six To Seven Years Of Age And Then It Is Almost Impossible To Do Anything With Them.
Children
Years
Religion
The Doctor Of The Future Will Give No Medication, But Will Interest His Patients In The Care Of The Human Frame, Diet And In The Cause And Prevention Of Disease. ~
Life
Motivational
Fitness
We Shall Have No Better Conditions In The Future If We Are Satisfied With All Those Which We Have At Present.
Self Confidence
Design
Complacency
My Mother Was The Making Of Me.
Funny
Mother
Humorous
The Real Measure Of Success Is The Number Of Experiments That Can Be Crowded Into 24 Hours.
Success
Real
Numbers
No, I Haven't Failed Thousands Of Times. On The Contrary, I Have Successfully Eliminated Thousands Of Ideas That Do Not Work!
Inspirational
Ideas
Contrary
The Very First Thing An Executive Must Have Is A Fine Memory. Of Course It Does Not Follow That A Man With A Fine Memory Is Necessarily A Fine Executive. But If He Has The Memory He Has The First Qualification, And If He Has Not The Memory Nothing Else Matters.
Memories
Men
Doe
I Have Not Failed. I've Just Found 10,000 Ways That Won't Work.
Inspirational
Funny
Motivational
What Is A College? An Institute Of Learning. What Is A Business? An Institute Of Learning. Life, Itself, Is An Institute Of Learning.
College
Never Stop Learning
Learning Life
I Have Never Seen The Slightest Scientific Proof Of The Religious Ideas Of Heaven And Hell, Of Future Life For Individuals, Or Of A Personal God.
Religious
Atheist
If There Is A God
The Best Thinking Has Been Done In Solitude. The Worst Has Been Done In Turmoil.
Thinking
Solitude
Innovation
Until Man Duplicates A Blade Of Grass, Nature Can Laugh At His So-called Scientific Knowledge. Remedies From Chemicals Will Never Stand In Favor Compared With The Products Of Nature, The Living Cell Of The Plant, The Final Result Of The Rays Of The Sun, The Mother Of All Life.
Mother
Health
Men
I'd Put My Money On The Sun And Solar Energy. What A Source Of Power! I Hope We Don't Have To Wait Until Oil And Coal Run Out Before We Tackle That.
Running
Nature
Hydrogen Fuel
I've Realized That Most Of My Best Ideas Have Followed A Good Night's Sleep.
Good Night
Sleep
Night
I Never Pick Up An Item Without Thinking Of How I Might Improve It.
Technology
Thinking
Might
If I Could Solve All The Problems Myself, I Would.
Teamwork
Team Work
Collaboration
Sticking To It Is The Genius.
Children
Ignorance
Knowledge
Fish Seem To Be Rather Conservative Around This Bay, One Seldom Catches Enough To Form The Fundamental Basis For A Lie. Dante Left Out One Of The Torments Of Hades — I Could Imagine A Doomed Mortal Made To Untangle Wet Fish Lines Forever. Everybody Lost Patience At The Stupidity Of The Fish In Not Coming Forward Promptly To Be Murdered.
Lying
Fishing
Stupidity
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.".
Steps
Problem
Discouraged
People Who Will Not Turn A Shovel Full Of Dirt On The Project (muscle Shoals Dam) Nor Contribute A Pound Of Material, Will Collect More Money From The United States Than Will The People Who Supply All The Material And Do All The Work. This Is The Terrible Thing About Interest.
People
United States
Dams
I Know Of Over 3,000 Ways [that] A Light Bulb Does Not Work.
Light
Doe
Way
Because I Readily Absorb Ideas From Every Source - Frequently Starting Where The Last Person Left Off - I Never Pick Up An Item Without Thinking Of How I Might Improve It.
Motivational
Thinking
Ideas
My Main Purpose In Life Is To Make Money So I Can Afford To Go On Creating More Inventions.
Motivational
Creating
Purpose
I Have Far More Respect For The Person With A Single Idea Who Gets There Than For The Person With A Thousand Ideas Who Does Nothing.
Inspirational
Motivational
Single
I Failed My Way To Success.
Inspirational
Motivational
Fear
All Bibles Are Man-made.
Bible
Men
Religion
A Man’s Best Friend Is A Good Wife.
Inspirational
Men
Wife
After We Had Conducted Thousands Of Experiments On A Certain Project Without Solving The Problem, One Of My Associates, After We Had Conducted The Crowning Experiment And It Had Proved A Failure, Expressed Discouragement And Disgust Over Our Having Failed To Find Out Anything. I Cheerily Assured Him That We Had Learned Something. For We Had Learned For A Certainty That The Thing Couldnt Be Done That Way, And That We Would Have To Try Some Other Way.
Trying
Done
Way
The Roots Of Tobacco Plants Must Go Clear Through To Hell. Satan's Principal Agent Dyspepsia Must Have Charge Of This Branch Of The Vegetable Kingdom.
Vegetables
Roots
Agents
I Have Been At Work For Some Time Building An Apparatus To See If It Is Possible For Personalities Which Have Left This Earth To Communicate With Us.
Personality
Earth
Building
Success Is The Result Of Hard Work.
Hard Work
Mathematics
Results
I Am Long On Ideas, But Short On Time. I Expect To Live To Be Only About A Hundred.
Inspirational
Life
Birthday
Most Of My Ideas Belonged To Other People Who Never Bothered To Develop Them.
Ideas
People
Bothered
I Know This World Is Ruled By Infinite Intelligence. It Required Infinite Intelligence To Create It And It Requires Infinite Intelligence To Keep It On Its Course ... It Is Mathematical In Its Precision.
God
Infinite Intelligence
World
I Didn’t Fail Ten Thousand Times. I Successfully Eliminated, Ten Thousand Times, Materials And Combinations Which Wouldn’t Work.
Failing
Combination
Thousand
The Reason A Lot Of People Do Not Recognize Opportunity Is Because It Usually Goes Around Wearing Overalls Looking Like Hard Work.
Success
Hard Work
Opportunity
I Try Not To Invent Things That People Don't Need.
People
Trying
Needs
Direct Thought Is Not An Attribute Of Feminity. In This, Women Are Now Centuries Behind Man.
Men
Century
Attributes
I Have Not Failed. I've Just Found 10,000 Foundations And Individual Donors Whose Priorities Don't Align With My Organization's.
Organization
Priorities
Foundation
Invention Is 10% Inspiration And 90% Perspiration.
Inspiration
Design
Invention
Time Is Really The Only Capital That Any Human Being Has, And The Only Thing He Can't Afford To Lose.
Time
Humans
Human Beings
I Never Pick Up An Item Without Thinking Of How I Might Improve It. I Never Perfected An Invention That I Did Not Think About In Terms Of The Service It Might Give Others. I Want To Save And Advance Human Life, Not Destroy It. I Am Proud Of The Fact That I Never Invented Weapons To Kill. The Dove Is My Emblem.
Technology
Thinking
Giving
I Have Always Consistently Opposed High-tension And Alternating Systems Of Electric Lighting...not Only On Account Of Danger, But Because Of Their General Unreliability And Unsuitability For Any General System Of Distribution.
Unreliability
Danger
Tension
To Me, The Idea And Expectation That The Day Is Slowly And Surely Coming When We Will Be Able To Honestly Say We Are Our Brother's Keeper And Not His Oppressor Is Very Beautiful .
Motivational
Beautiful
Brother
Invention Is 1% Inspiration And 99% Perspiration
Inspiration
Invention
Perspiration
I Never Did Anything Worth Doing By Accident, Nor Did Any Of My Inventions Come Indirectly Through Accident, Except The Phonograph. No, When I Have, Fully Decided That A Result Is Worth Getting, I Go About It, And Make Trial After Trial, Until It Comes.
Trials
Invention
Anything Worth Doing
Work While Others Are Wishing.
Motivational
Work
Stay Positive
There's A Way To Do It Better - Find It.
Positive
Business
Creativity
I Never Once Failed At Making A Light Bulb. I Just Found Out 99 Ways Not To Make One.
Light
Way
Found
Never Say I Failed 99 Times, Say I Discovered 99 Ways Which Causes Failure!
Way
Causes
I Never Did Anything Worth Doing Entirely By Accident. . . Almost None Of My Inventions Came About Totally By Accident. They Were Achieved By Having Trained Myself To Endure And Tolerate Hard Work.
Motivational
Hard Work
Discipline
The Doctor Of The Future Will Give No Medicine, But Will Involve The Patient In The Proper Use Of Food, Fresh Air And Exercise
Exercise
Doctors
Air
Non-violence Leads To The Highest Ethics, Which Is The Goal Of All Evolution. Until We Stop Harming All Other Living Beings, We Are Still Savages.
Life
Peace
Honesty
Maturity Is Often More Absurd Than Youth And Very Frequently Is Most Unjust To Youth.
Time
Maturity
Insightful
Discontent Is The First Necessity Of Progress.
Inspirational
Motivational
Happiness
Failure Is The Most Effective Technique To Optimize Strategic Planning, Implementation And Processes.
Technique
Planning
Process
Not Only Will Atomic Power Be Released, But Someday We Will Harness The Rise And Fall Of The Tides And Imprison The Rays Of The Sun.
Fall
Tides
Sun
Genius Is Not Inspired. Inspiration Is Perspiration.
Inspiration
Hard Work
Science
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.
Adventure
Work Out
Lines
Consider Data Without Prejudice.
Data
Prejudice
They Were Not Failures, They Were New Found Ways Of What Does Not Work "i Can Accept Failure,everyonefails At Something. But I Can't Accept Not Trying
Trying
Doe
Way
Sleep Is Like A Drug. Take Too Much At A Time And It Makes You Dopey. You Lose Time And Opportunities.
Sleep
Opportunity
Drug
Everything Comes To Him Who Hustles While He Waits.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
A Diamond Is A Piece Of Coal That Stuck To The Job
Jobs
Coal
Pieces
As Danand Ian Over At The Lifestyle Business Podcast Say: Rush To Failure.
Lifestyle
A Failure Teaches You That Something Can't Be Done-that Way.
Failure
Done
Way
I Was Always Afraid Of Things That Worked The First Time. Long Experience Proved That There Were Great Drawbacks Found Generally Before They Could Be Got Commercial; But Here Was Something There Was No Doubt Of.
Success
Science
Long
I Am Afraid Of Radium And Polonium ... I Don't Want To Monkey With Them.
Science
Want
Monkeys
The Thing I Lose Patience With The Most Is The Clock. Its Hands Move Too Fast
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
Genius Is 99% Perspiration And 1% Inspiration.
Inspiration
Genius
Perspiration
The Entity That Gives Life And Motion To The Human Body Is Finer Still And Lies Infinitely Beyond The Reach Of Our Finest Scientific Instruments. When This Entity Deserts The Body, The Body Is Like A Ship Without A Rudder - Deserted, Motionless, Dead.
Lying
Giving
Soul
When You Have Exhausted All Possibilities, Remember This - You Haven't.
Inspirational
Karma
Running
I Have Determined That There Is No Market For Talking Pictures
Inspiration
Talking
Determined
We Don't Know A Millionth Of One Percent About Anything.
Drinking
Ignorance
Knowledge
Five Percent Of The People Think; Ten Percent Of The People Think They Think; And The Other Eighty-five Percent Would Rather Die Than Think.
Thinking
People
Willful Ignorance
That Is To Say, Under The Old Way Any Time We Wish To Add To The National Wealth We Are Compelled To Add To The National Debt. Now, That Is What Henry Ford Wants To Prevent. He Thinks It Is Stupid, And So Do I, That For The Loan Of $30,000,000 Of Their Own Money The People Of The United States Should Be Compelled To Pay $66,000,000 - That Is What It Amounts To, With Interest.
Stupid
Thinking
People
The Beauty Of A Great Idea Lies In The Art Of Using It.
Art
Lying
Ideas
Remember, Life Is All What You Focus On. Learn Lessons And Keep Moving Forward Towards Your Goals And Dreams... "i Have Not Failed. I've Just Found 10,000 Ways That Won't Work."
Dream
Moving
Goal
His Genius He Was Quite Content In One Brief Sentence To Define; Of Inspiration One Percent, Of Perspiration, Ninety Nine.
Positive
Inspiration
Ninety Nine
Just Because Something Doesn't Do What You Planned It To Do Doesn't Mean It's Useless.
Positive
Mean Girls
Funny Inspirational
Large Portions Of Life's Disappointments Are Individuals Who Did Not Understand That They Were So Near Achievement When They Surrendered.
Disappointment
Achievement
Individual
I Have Not Failed. I Have Successfully Discovered 1200 Ideas That Don't Work.
Ideas
Being Positive
If Parents Pass Enthusiasm Along To Their Children, They Will Leave Them An Estate Of Incalculable Value
Motivational
Family
Education
First Be Sure A Thing Is Wanted Or Needed, Then Go Ahead.
Firsts
Needed
Wanted
It Is Remarkable To What Lengths People Will Go To Avoid Thought.
People
Length
Remarkable
We Tried Some Experiments In Mind Reading Which Were Not Very Successful. Think Mind Reading Contrary To Common Sense, Wise Provision Of The Bon Dieu That We Cannot Read Each Others Minds, Twould Stop Civilization And Everybody Would Take To The Woods. In Fifty Or Hundred Thousand Centuries When Mankind Have Become Perfect By Evolution Then Perhaps This Sense Could Be Developed With Safety To The State.
Wise
Reading
Successful
I'll Try Anything...i'll Even Try Limburger Cheese!
Trying
Cheese
A Good Intention, With A Bad Approach, Often Leads To A Poor Result.
Good Intentions
Poor
Results
I Didn't Fail 1000 Times. The Light Bulb Was An Invention With 1000 Steps.
Light
Steps
Self Discipline
I Never Did Anything By Accident, Nor Did Any Of My Inventions Come By Accident; They Came By Work.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
When I Have Eliminated The Ways That Will Not Work, I Will Find The Way That Will Work.
Way
Martial Arts
I Know This World Is Ruled By Infinite Intelligence. Everything That Surrounds Us- Everything That Exists - Proves That There Are Infinite Laws Behind It. There Can Be No Denying This Fact. It Is Mathematical In Its Precision.
Spiritual
Infinite Intelligence
Law
To Do Much Clear Thinking A Person Must Arrange For Regular Periods Of Solitude When They Can Concentrate And Indulge The Imagination Without Distraction.
Thinking
Imagination
Solitude
Genius? Nothing! Sticking To It Is The Genius! Any Other Bright-minded Fellow Can Accomplish Just As Much If He Will Stick Like Hell And Remember Nothing That's Any Good Works By Itself. You've Got To Make The Damn Thing Work!...i Failed My Way To Success.
Genius
Way
Sticks
Absorb Ideas From Every Source.
Ideas
Source
I Get My Ideas From Listening From Within.
Ideas
Listening
I Never View Mistakes As Failures. They Are Simply Opportunities To Find Out What Doesn't Work.
Mistake
Failure
Opportunity
Of The 200 Light Bulbs That Didn't Work, Every Failure Told Me Something That I Was Able To Incorporate Into The Next Attempt.
Light
Able
Next
They Say President Wilson Has Blundered. Perhaps He Has, But I Notice He Usually Blunders Forward.
Failure
President
Wilson
There Is Time For Everything.
Motivational
Time
Peace
It Is Astonishing What An Effort It Seems To Be For Many People To Put Their Brains Definitely And Systematically To Work.
Effectiveness
People
Effort
The Perils Of Overwork Are Slight Compared With The Dangers Of Inactivity.
Danger
Peril
Inactivity
There Is Far More Danger In Public Than In Private Monopoly, For When Government Goes Into Business It Can Always Shift Its Losses To The Taxpayers. Government Never Makes Ends Meetand That Is The First Requisite Of Business.
Business
Loss
Government
The Biggest Failure Of Man Is That He Gives Up Before He Realizes How Close He Was To Success.
Sports
Giving Up
Men
Any Large Extension Of The Government Into Business Affairs - No Matter What The Pretense And No Matter How The The Extension Is Labeled - Will Be Bound To Promote Waste And Put A Curb On Our Prosperity And Progress.
Government
Progress
Matter
Baseball Is The Greatest Of American Games. Some Say Football, But It Is My Firm Belief, And It Shall Always Be, That Baseball Has No Superior.
Baseball
Football
Games
Ideas Without Execution Are Hallucinations.
Ideas
Hallucinations
Execution
Success Is The Product Of The Severest Kind Of Mental And Physical Application.
Kind
Application
Products
A Reporter Called On Edison To Interview Him About A Substitute For Lead In The Manufacture Of Storage Batteries That The Scientist Was Seeking. Edison Informed The Man That He Had Made 20,000 Experiments But None Had Worked. "aren't You Discouraged By All This Waste Of Effort?" The Reporter Asked. Edison: "waste! There's Nothing Wasted. I Have Discovered 20,000 Things That Won't Work."
Work
Men
Discovery
Most Of The Exercise I Get Is From Standing And Walking Around Laboratory Tables All Day. I Derive More Benefit And Entertainment From This Than Some Of My Friends And Competitors Get From Playing Games Like Golf.
Motivational
Exercise
Golf
This Problem, Once Solved, Will Be Simple.
Simple
Problem
The Body Is A Community Made Up Of Its Innumerable Cells Or Inhabitants.
Cells
Community
Body
I Find My Greatest Pleasure, And So My Reward, In The Work That Precedes What The World Calls Success.
Funny
Success
Motivation
The Dove Is My Emblem.
Technology
Dove
Emblems
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


Trending Author
Kathryn Hahn
Michael E. Mann
Lindsay Lohan
Chinua Achebe
Ashton Eaton
Natalie Clifford Barney
Category
Information