Background Image
...
There Cannot Be Overproduction Of Anything Which Men And Women Want. And Their Wants Are Unlimited, Except By The Size Of Their Stomachs.
-Thomas A. Edison
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

There Cannot Be Overproduction

Thomas A. Edison
...
There Cannot Be Overproduction Of Anything Which Men And Women Want. And Their Wants Are Unlimited, Except By The Size Of Their Stomachs.

Understanding the Quote: "there cannot be overproduction of anything which men and women want. and..."

This quote by Thomas A. Edison reflects deeply on the theme of men. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Men, Want, Size, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Thomas A. Edison interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Thomas A. Edison

Thomas A. Edison is celebrated for insightful thoughts on men and want. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 83289
Topic
Men
Want
Size
More From Thomas A. Edison
I Have Not Failed. I've Just Found 10,000 Ways That Won't Work.
Inspirational
Funny
Motivational
Our Greatest Weakness Lies In Giving Up. The Most Certain Way To Succeed Is Always To Try Just One More Time.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
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
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
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
For Faith, As Well Intentioned As It May Be, Must Be Built On Facts, Not Fiction - Faith In Fiction Is A Damnable False Hope.
Religious
Fiction
May
Show Me A Completely Contented Person And I'll Show You A Failure.
Failure
Failing
Show Me
Nature Is Truly Wonderful. Only Man Is Truly Foul.
Men
Wonderful
Foul
There Is No Substitute For Hard Work.
Motivational
Perseverance
Morning
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
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
There Cannot Be Overproduction Of Anything Which Men And Women Want. And Their Wants Are Unlimited, Except By The Size Of Their Stomachs.
Men
Want
Size
Two Per Cent. Is Genius, And Ninety-eight Per Cent. Is Hard Work.
Hard Work
Science
Eight
My Principal Business Is Giving Commercial Value To The Brilliant - But Misdirected - Ideas Of Others.
Motivational
Ideas
Giving
I Know Of Over 3,000 Ways [that] A Light Bulb Does Not Work.
Light
Doe
Way
The Only Thing I Use My Body For Is To Carry My Brain Around.
Humor
Brain
Use
It Is Apparent To Me That The Possibilities Of The Aeroplane, Which Two Or Three Years Ago Were Thought To Hold The Solution To The [flying Machine] Problem, Have Been Exhausted, And That We Must Turn Elsewhere.
Years
Two
Flying
If I Had Not Had So Much Ambition And Not Tried To Do So Many Things, I Probably Would Have Been Happier, But Less Useful.
Ambition
Has Beens
Ifs
Discontent Is The First Necessity Of Progress.
Inspirational
Motivational
Happiness
To Get A Great Idea, Come Up With Lots Of Them.
Creativity
Play
Ideas
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
The Strength Of The Constitution, Lies In The Will Of The People To Defend It.
Lying
People
Liberty
The Value Of An Idea Lies In The Using Of It.
Business
Good Life
Lying
I Believe That The Science Of Chemistry Alone Almost Proves The Existence Of An Intelligent Creator.
Inspirational
Motivational
Believe
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
I Am Much Less Interested In What Is Called God's Word Than In God's Deeds. All Bibles Are Man-made.
Men
Deeds
Made
Many A Person Who Could Not Comprehend Rousseau, And Would Be Puzzled By Montesquieu, Could Understand Paine As An Open Book. He Wrote With A Clarity, A Sharpness Of Outline And Exactness Of Speech That Even A Schoolboy Should Be Able To Grasp.
Book
Would Be
Speech
The Body Is A Community Made Up Of Its Innumerable Cells Or Inhabitants.
Cells
Community
Body
Religion Is All Bunk.
Atheist
Religion
Atheism
Every Failure Is A Lesson Learned About Your Strategy.
Lesson Learned
Lessons
Strategy
I Am So Deaf I Am Debarred From Hearing All The Time Articulation And Have To Depend On The Judgment Of Others.
Hearing
Judgment
Deaf
The Thing I Lose Patience With The Most Is The Clock. Its Hands Move Too Fast
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
The Trouble With Most People Is That They Quit Before They Start.
Thinking
People
Quitting
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
Fooling Around With Alternating Currents Is Just A Waste Of Time. Nobody Will Use It, Ever. It's Too Dangerous . . . It Could Kill A Man As Quick As A Bolt Of Lightning. Direct Current Is Safe.
Dream
Men
Safe
Waste Is Worse Than Loss. The Time Is Coming When Every Person Who Lays Claim To Ability Will Keep The Question Of Waste Before Him Constantly. The Scope Of Thrift Is Limitless.
Time
Loss
Lost Friendship
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.
Inspiration
Ninety Nine
Needs
There Is Much More Opportunity Than There Are People To See It.
Opportunity
People
The World Owes Nothing To Any Man, But Every Man Owes Something To The World.
Inspirational
Men
World
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
I Never View Mistakes As Failures. They Are Simply Opportunities To Find Out What Doesn't Work.
Mistake
Failure
Opportunity
If Parents Pass Enthusiasm Along To Their Children, They Will Leave Them An Estate Of Incalculable Value
Motivational
Family
Education
The Inventor Tries To Meet The Demand Of A Crazy Civilization.
Crazy
Civilization
Trying
I Make More Mistakes Than Anyone Else I Know, And Sooner Or Later, I Patent Most Of Them.
Funny Inspirational
Mistake
Creativity
The Real Measure Of Success Is The Number Of Experiments That Can Be Crowded Into 24 Hours.
Success
Real
Numbers
Be Courageous! Have Faith! Go Forward.
Motivational
Courage
Have Faith
We Are Striking It Big In The Electric Light, Better Than My Vivid Imagination First Conceived. Where This Thing Is Going To Stop Lord Only Knows.
Light
Vivid Imagination
Firsts
I'll Try Anything...i'll Even Try Limburger Cheese!
Trying
Cheese
Until Man Duplicates A Blade Of Grass, Nature Can Laugh At His So Called Scientific Knowledge.
Motivational
Nature
Laughter
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 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
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
Success Is The Result Of Hard Work.
Hard Work
Mathematics
Results
Invention Is 1% Inspiration And 99% Perspiration
Inspiration
Invention
Perspiration
Large Portions Of Life's Disappointments Are Individuals Who Did Not Understand That They Were So Near Achievement When They Surrendered.
Disappointment
Achievement
Individual
Being Busy Does Not Always Mean Real Work.
Real
Mean
Infinite Intelligence
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
Vision Without Execution Is Delusion.
Positive
Vision
Execution
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
Seeming To Do Is Not Doing.
Seeming
There Is Great Value In Disaster. All Our Mistakes Are Burned Up. Thank God We Can Start A New.
Mistake
Thank God
Disaster
Failure Is Really A Matter Of Conceit. People Don't Work Hard Because, In Their Conceit, They Imagine They'll Succeed Without Ever Making An Effort. Most People Believe That They'll Wake Up Some Day And Find Themselves Rich. Actually, They've Got It Half Right, Because Eventually They Do Wake Up.
Believe
Hard Work
People
This Problem, Once Solved, Will Be Simple.
Simple
Problem
Today, I Am Wondering What Would Have Happened To Me By Now, If, Fifty Years Ago, Some Fluent Talker Had Converted Me To The Theory Of The Eight-hour Day And Convinced Me That It Was Not Fair To My Fellow-workers To Put Forth My Best Efforts In My Work? I Am Glad That The Eight-hour Day Had Not Been Invented When I Was A Young Man. If My Life Had Been Made Up Of Eight-hour Days, I Don't Believe I Could Have Accomplished A Great Deal.
Life
Country
Work
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 Not Failed. I've Just Found 10,000 Foundations And Individual Donors Whose Priorities Don't Align With My Organization's.
Organization
Priorities
Foundation
Somewhere Between The Ages Of Eleven And Fifteen, The Average Child Begins To Suffer From An Atrophy, The Paralysis Of Curiosity And The Suspension Of The Power To Observe. The Trouble, I Should Judge, To Lie With The Schools.
Children
Lying
School
The Value Of A Good Idea Is In Using It.
Ideas
Good Ideas
Values
Do The Thing And The Power Will Come.
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
They Say President Wilson Has Blundered. Perhaps He Has, But I Notice He Usually Blunders Forward.
Failure
President
Wilson
To My Mind The Old Masters Are Not Art; Their Value Is In Their Scarcity.
Art
Philosophy
History
If There Is A Better Solution... Find It.
Pride
Solutions
Ifs
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
A Failure Teaches You That Something Can't Be Done-that Way.
Failure
Done
Way
First Be Sure A Thing Is Wanted Or Needed, Then Go Ahead.
Firsts
Needed
Wanted
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
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
Genius Defined: Of Inspiration 1% Percent, Of Perspiration, 99%.
Inspiration
Genius
Percent
Just Because Something Doesn't Do What You Planned It To Do Doesn't Mean It's Useless.
Positive
Mean Girls
Funny Inspirational
I Never Did A Day's Work In My Life, It Was All Fun.
Inspirational
Life
Fun
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
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
The First Requisite For Success Is To Develop The Ability To Focus.
Focus
Firsts
Ability
I Never Quit Until I Get What I Want.
Want
Never Quit
Quitting
Fools Call Wise Men Fools. A Wise Man Never Calls Any Man A Fool.
Inspirational
Wise
Men
Results! Why, Man, I Have Gotten A Lot Of Results. I Know Several Thousand Things That Won't Work.
Motivational
Education
Work
Our Greatest Weakness Lies In Giving Up.
Inspirational
Wise
Wisdom
Surprises And Reverses Can Serve As An Incentive For Great Accomplishment. There Are No Rules Here, We're Just Trying To Accomplish Something.
Motivational
Accomplishment
Trying
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
Nature Made Us - Nature Did It All - Not The Gods Of The Religions.
Made
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
Before You Reject An Idea, Find At Least Five Good Things About It.
Ideas
Imagination
Good Things
Genius Is Not Inspired. Inspiration Is Perspiration.
Inspiration
Hard Work
Science
To Invent, You Need A Good Imagination And A Pile Of Junk.
Inspirational
Science
Imagination Creativity
I Do Not Believe Any Type Of Religion Should Ever Be Introduced Into The Public Schools Of The United States.
Atheist
Believe
School
It Is A Terrible Situation When The Government, To Insure The National Wealth, Must Go In Debt And Submit To Ruinous Interest Charges, At The Hands Of Men, Who Control The Fictitious Value Of Gold. Interest Is The Invention Of Satan.
Men
Hands
Gold
I Failed My Way To Success.
Inspirational
Motivational
Fear
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
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
I Am A Vegetarian As Well As A Passionate Anti-alcoholic, Because I Can Thus Make Better Use Of My Brain.
Animal
Brain
Passionate
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
We Haven't Failed. We Now Know A Thousand Things That Won't Work, So We Are Much Closer To Finding What Will.
Educational
Thousand
Findings
You Can't Realize Your Dreams Unless You Have One To Begin With.
Dream
Goal
Realizing
I Have Determined That There Is No Market For Talking Pictures
Inspiration
Talking
Determined
The Best Thinking Has Been Done In Solitude. The Worst Has Been Done In Turmoil.
Thinking
Solitude
Innovation
We Don't Know A Millionth Of One Percent About Anything.
Drinking
Ignorance
Knowledge
Whatever The Mind Of Man Creates, Should Be Controlled By Man's Character.
Motivational
Character
Men
If We Did All The Things We Are Capable Of Doing, We Would Literally Astound Ourselves.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
Nobody Knows Whether Our Personalities Pass On To Another Existence Or Sphere, But If We Can Evolve An Instrument So Delicate To Be Manipulated By Our Personality As It Survives In The Next Life Such An Instrument Ought To Record Something.
Personality
Records
Next
Great Ideas Originate In The Muscles.
Life
Motivation
Work
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
I Start Where The Last Man Left Off.
Inspirational
Positive
Men
Of All My Inventions, I Liked The Phonograph Best
Great Inventions
Invention
Phonograph
The Three Things That Are Most Essential To Achievement Are Common Sense, Hard Work And Stick-to-it-iv-ness.
Motivational
Hard Work
Persistence
X-rays ... I Am Afraid Of Them. I Stopped Experimenting With Them Two Years Ago, When I Came Near To Losing My Eyesight And Dally, My Assistant Practically Lost The Use Of Both Of His Arms.
Science
Two
Years
I Am Afraid Of Radium And Polonium ... I Don't Want To Monkey With Them.
Science
Want
Monkeys
I Try Not To Invent Things That People Don't Need.
People
Trying
Needs
Most Of My Ideas Belonged To Other People Who Never Bothered To Develop Them.
Ideas
People
Bothered
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
I Will Not Say I Failed 1000 Times, I Will Say That I Discovered There Are 1000 Ways That Can Cause Failure
Way
Causes
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
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
I Am Quite Correctly Described As 'more Of A Sponge Than An Inventor....'
Motivational
Sponges
Inventor
When You Have Exhausted All Possibilities, Remember This - You Haven't.
Inspirational
Karma
Running
Everything Comes To Those Who Hustle While They Wait.
Sports
Encouragement
Accomplishment
As Danand Ian Over At The Lifestyle Business Podcast Say: Rush To Failure.
Lifestyle
Genius Is One Percent Inspiration, Ninety-nine Percent Perspiration.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
The First Requisite Of Success Is The Ability To Apply Your Physical And Mental Energies To One Problem Without Growing Weary.
Success
Focus
Energy
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
Youth Doesn't Take Advice.
Advice
Youth
From His Neck Down A Man Is Worth A Couple Of Dollars A Day, From His Neck Up He Is Worth Anything That His Brain Can Produce.
Motivational
Couple
Men
The United States, And Other Advanced Nations, Will Someday Be Able To Produce Instruments Of Death So Terrible The World Will Be In Abject Terror Of Itself And Its Ability To End Civilization.... Such War-making Weapons Should Be Developed - But Only For Purposes Of Discovery And Experimentation
Motivational
War
Discovery
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
To Have A Great Idea, Have A Lot Of Them.
Positive
Smart
Failure
I Never Once Failed At Making A Light Bulb. I Just Found Out 99 Ways Not To Make One.
Light
Way
Found
The Biggest Failure Of Man Is That He Gives Up Before He Realizes How Close He Was To Success.
Sports
Giving Up
Men
Success Is Based On Imagination Plus Ambition And The Will To Work.
Ambition
Imagination
Plus
I Was At The Foot Of My Class.
Class
Feet
There Is Always A Better Way.
Motivational
Self Reliance
Way
As A Cure For Worrying, Work Is Far Better Than Whiskey. I Always Found That, If I Began To Worry, The Best Thing I Could Do Was Focus Upon Doing Something Useful And Then Work Very Hard At It. Soon, I Would Forget What Was Troubling Me.
Motivational
Worry
Focus
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
The Perils Of Overwork Are Slight Compared With The Dangers Of Inactivity.
Danger
Peril
Inactivity
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
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
All Bibles Are Man-made.
Bible
Men
Religion
I Have Friends In Overalls Whose Friendship I Would Not Swap For The Favor Of The Kings Of The World.
Inspirational
Friendship
Positive
Genius Is 99% Perspiration And 1% Inspiration.
Inspiration
Genius
Perspiration
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
Opportunity Is Missed By Most People Because It Is Dressed In Overalls And Looks Like Work.
Funny
Life
Motivational
A Man’s Best Friend Is A Good Wife.
Inspirational
Men
Wife
Show Me A Thoroughly Satisfied Man - And I Will Show You A Failure.
Success
Educational
Failure
The Dove Is My Emblem.
Technology
Dove
Emblems
My Mother Was The Making Of Me.
Funny
Mother
Humorous
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
Maturity Is Often More Absurd Than Youth And Very Frequently Is Most Unjust To Youth.
Time
Maturity
Insightful
I Have A Peculiar Theory About Radium, And I Believe It Is The Correct One. I Believe That There Is Some Mysterious Ray Pervading The Universe That Is Fluorescing To It. In Other Words, That All Its Energy Is Not Self-constructed But That There Is A Mysterious Something In The Atmosphere That Scientists Have Not Found That Is Drawing Out Those Infinitesimal Atoms And Distributing Them Forcefully And Indestructibly.
Believe
Science
Self
I Didn't Fail 1000 Times. The Light Bulb Was An Invention With 1000 Steps.
Light
Steps
Self Discipline
I Remember That I Was Never Able To Get Along At School. I Was At The Foot Of The Class.
Education
School
Class
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
When We Learn How To Store Electricity, We Will Cease Being Apes Ourselves; Until Then We Are Tailless Orangutans. You See, We Should Utilize Natural Forces And Thus Get All Of Our Power. Sunshine Is A Form Of Energy, And The Winds And The Tides Are Manifestations Of Energy. Do We Use Them? Oh, No! We Burn Up Wood And Coal, As Renters Burn Up The Front Fence For Fuel. We Live Like Squatters, Not As If We Owned The Property.
Sunshine
Wind
Energy
I've Realized That Most Of My Best Ideas Have Followed A Good Night's Sleep.
Good Night
Sleep
Night
I Love Great Music And Art, But I Think 'cubist' Songs And Paintings Are Hideous.
Motivational
Song
Art
I Get My Ideas From Listening From Within.
Ideas
Listening
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 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
I Can Never Pick Up A Thing Without Wishing To Improve It.
Wish
Picks
I Can
Interest Is The Invention Of Satan.
Satan
Invention
Interest
His Genius He Was Quite Content In One Brief Sentence To Define; Of Inspiration One Percent, Of Perspiration, Ninety Nine.
Positive
Inspiration
Ninety Nine
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
I Consider Paine Our Greatest Political Thinker. As We Have Not Advanced, And Perhaps Never Shall Advance, Beyond The Declaration And Constitution, So Paine Has Had No Successors Who Extended His Principles.
Political
Principles
Constitution
Smoking Too Much Makes Me Nervous. Must Lasso My Natural Tendency To Acquire Such Habits. Holding Heavy Cigar Constantly In My Mouth Has Deformed My Upper Lip, It Has A Sort Of Havana Curl.
Smoking
Curls
Mouths
The Secret Of Success Is Focus Of Purpose.
Focus
Secret
Purpose
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
Consider Data Without Prejudice.
Data
Prejudice
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
The Most Necessary Task Of Civilization Is To Teach People How To Think. It Should Be The Primary Purpose Of Our Public Schools. The Mind Of A Child Is Naturally Active, It Develops Through Exercise. Give A Child Plenty Of Exercise, For Body And Brain. The Trouble With Our Way Of Educating Is That It Does Not Give Elasticity To The Mind. It Casts The Brain Into A Mold. It Insists That The Child Must Accept. It Does Not Encourage Original Thought Or Reasoning, And It Lays More Stress On Memory Than Observation.
Children
Memories
Stress
Nothing That's Good Works By Itself, You've Got To Make The Damn Thing Work.
Good Work
Damn
Damn Things
To Monsieur Eiffel The Engineer, The Brave Builder Of So Gigantic And Original A Specimen Of Modern Engineering From One Who Has The Greatest Respect And Admiration For All Engineers Including The Great Engineer The Bon Dieu.
Science
Engineering
Brave
I Find Out What The World Needs. Then I Go Ahead And Try To Invent It
Inspirational
Science
Trying
First, Study The Present Construction. Second, Ask For All Past Experiences ...study And Read Everything You Can On The Subject.
Past
Firsts
Study
I Have Better Use For My Brain Than To Poison It With Alcohol. To Put Alcohol In The Human Brain Is Like Putting Sand In The Bearings Of An Engine.
Alcohol
Brain
Poison
I Never Failed. It Just Didn't Work 10,000 Times.
I Told [kruesi] I Was Going To Record Talking, And Then Have The Machine Talk Back. He Thought It Absurd. However, It Was Finished, The Foil Was Put On; I Then Shouted "mary Had A Little Lamb," Etc. I Adjusted The Reproducer, And The Machine Reproduced It Perfectly. On First Words Spoken On A Phonograph.
Science
Talking
Machines
Focus On How The End-user Customers Perceive The Impact Of Your Innovation - Rather Than On How You, The Innovators, Perceive It.
Impact
Focus
Innovation
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
I Never Pick Up An Item Without Thinking Of How I Might Improve It.
Technology
Thinking
Might
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
Invention Is 10% Inspiration And 90% Perspiration.
Inspiration
Design
Invention
My Mind Is Incapable Of Conceiving Such A Thing As A Soul. I May Be In Error, And Man May Have A Soul; But I Simply Do Not Believe It.
Believe
Men
Errors
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
I Am Not Overly Impressed By The Great Names And Reputations Of Those Who Might Be Trying To Beat Me To An Invention. It's Their 'ideas' That Appeal To Me. I Am Quite Correctly Described As 'more Of A Sponge Than An Inventor
Names
Ideas
Trying
Sticking To It Is The Genius.
Children
Ignorance
Knowledge
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
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
Success Depends On How Many Experiments You Can Fit Into 24 Hours
Fit
Hours
Experiments
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
It Is Remarkable To What Lengths People Will Go To Avoid Thought.
People
Length
Remarkable
The Money One Gets For Selling One's Soul Is Always Spent In Deadening One's Conscience, So The Net Gain At The End Of A Lifetime Is No Greater Than If The Diabolic Bargain Had Not Been Struck.
Animal
Soul
Gains
Trending Author
Stonewall Jackson
Shakti Gawain
Armistead Maupin
Michael Nesmith
Kevin Powers
Elizabeth Janeway
Category
Information