Famous Thomas Edison Quotes

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was a prolific American inventor and businessman who profoundly shaped the modern world. Born in Milan, Ohio, he had limited formal schooling but possessed an insatiable curiosity and a drive to experiment. Edison's early career as a telegraph operator sparked his inventive mind, leading to improvements in telegraph technology. He established a groundbreaking industrial research laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he and his team developed numerous transformative inventions. Among his most famous creations are the practical incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and early motion picture cameras. With over 1,000 US patents to his name, Edison was a pioneer of applying organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, leaving an enduring legacy on electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. He was a key figure in ushering in the age of electricity and innovation.

Famous Quotes by Thomas Edison

1. "Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success." 

2. "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." 

3. "Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."

4. "I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world." 

5. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”

6. "Nothing is impossible. We merely don't know how to do it yet."

7. "Science works slowly, even though it discovers the marvelous, the unlooked-for."

8. "Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you failure."

9. "The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil." 

10. "There's a better way to do it - Find it."

11. “A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.”

12. “All progress, all success, springs from thinking.” 

13. “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”

14. “Fools call wise men fools. A wise man never calls any man a fool.” 

15. “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

16. “Great ideas originate in the muscles.” 

17. “I always invented to obtain money to go on inventing.” 

18. “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.” 

19. “I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing.” 

20. “I never did a day’s work in my life, it was all fun.”

21. “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. I wish I had more years left.”

22. “If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”

23. “Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.”

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

25. “My desire is to do everything within my power to free people from drudgery and create the largest measure of happiness and prosperity.” 

26. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

27. “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."

28. “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.”

29. “The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do.” 

30. “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”

31. “The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.” 

32. “There are no rules here -- we're trying to accomplish something.”

33. “There is no substitute for hard work.” 

34. “To have a great idea, have a lot of them.” 

35. “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

36. “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.”

37. “Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge....” 

38. “We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

39. “What you are will show in what you do.” 

40. “When I have finally decided that a result is worth getting, I go ahead on it and make trial after trial until it comes.” 

41. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't.”