Thomas A. Edison Quotes

“A man’s best friend is a good wife.”

“Radio is just a fashion contrivance that will soon die out. It is obvious that there never will be invented a proper receiver!”

“Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.”

“They say President Wilson has blundered. Perhaps he has, but I notice he usually blunders forward.”

“I start where the last man left off.”

“We haven't failed. We now know a thousand things that won't work, so we are much closer to finding what will.”

“There is a better way for everything. Find it.”

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

“First, study the present construction. Second, ask for all past experiences ...study and read everything you can on the subject.”

“I have not failed 10,000 times. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work.”

“Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work.”

“The man who doesn’t make up his mind to cultivate the habit of thinking misses the greatest pleasure in life.”

“Inspiration can be found in a pile of junk. Sometimes, you can put it together with a good imagination and invent something.”

“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.”

“I know of over 3,000 ways [that] a light bulb does not work.”

“I never pick up an item without thinking of how I might improve it.”

“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.”

“My main purpose in life is to make enough money to create ever more inventions…. The dove is my emblem…. I want to save and advance human life, not destroy it…. I am proud of the fact that I have never invented weapons to kill….”

“I think work is the world's greatest fun.”

“There is time for everything.”

“It has been just so in all my inventions. The first step is an intuition-and comes with a burst, then difficulties arise. This thing that gives out and then that-"Bugs"as such little faults and difficulties are called show themselves and months of anxious watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success-or failure-is certainly reached.”

“I have had a lot of success with failure”

“Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.”

“Nothing that's good works by itself, you've got to make the damn thing work.”

“My success is due more to my ability to work continuously on one thing without stopping than to any other single quality.”