100 Inspirational Thomas Edison Quotes [2024]

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Updated: January 20th, 2022

Thomas Edison was an American inventor and businessman.

He built & developed numerous devices in fields like electric power generation, sound recording, mass communication, and motion pictures. He was one of the first inventors to have applied the theories of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He also established the first industrial research laboratory.

We've put together an incredible collection of Thomas Edison quotes to read.

Here they are:

100 Inspirational Thomas Edison Quotes [2024]

List of Inspiring Thomas Edison Quotes

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

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

Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.”

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

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

When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting I go ahead of it and make trial after trial until it comes.”

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”

The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. They may even discover the germ of old age.”

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this, you haven’t.”

We don’t know a millionth of one percent about anything.”

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.”

The thing I lose patience with the most is the clock. Its hands move too fast.”

It is astonishing what an effort it seems to be for many people to put their brains definitely and systematically to work.”

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.”

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.”

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

I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.”

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.”

Time is really the only capital that any human being has and the thing that he can least afford to waste or lose.”

Maturity is often more absurd than youth and very frequently is most unjust to youth.”

Good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.”

You can’t realize your dreams unless you have one to begin with.”

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

Never get discouraged if you fail. Learn from it. Keep trying.”

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

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

I’ve never made a mistake. I’ve only learned from experience.”

What you are will show in what you do.”

Surprises and reverses can serve as an incentive for great accomplishment. There are no rules here, we’re just trying to accomplish something.”

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

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

Success is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration!”

We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature’s inexhaustible sources of energy–sun, wind and tide. 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.”

There is no substitute for hard work.”

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.”

It is very beautiful over there!”

One might think that the money value of an invention constitutes its reward to the man who loves his work. But speaking for myself, I can honestly say this is not so…I continue to find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.”

I do not believe in the God of the theologians; but that there is a Supreme Intelligence I do not doubt.”

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

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

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

I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.”

The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.”

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

I never view mistakes as failures. They are simply opportunities to find out what doesn’t work.”

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.”

I readily absorb ideas from every source, frequently starting where the last person left off.”

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”

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.”

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….”

There’s a way to do it better – find it.”

I believe that the science of chemistry alone almost proves the existence of an intelligent creator.”

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!”

I don’t live with the past; I am living for to-day and to-morrow.”

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

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.”

The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”

I start where the last man left off.”

Hard work, nothing to divert my thought, clear air and simple food made my life very pleasant.”

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.”

I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work.”

To my mind the old masters are not art; their value is in their scarcity.”

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.”

If parents pass enthusiasm along to their children, they will leave them an estate of incalculable value.”

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.”

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.”

The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.”

His genius he was quite content in one brief sentence to define; Of inspiration one percent, of perspiration, ninety nine.”

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.”

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

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”

Vision without execution is hallucination.”

What a man’s mind can create, man’s character should control.”

I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill.”

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.”

A man’s best friend is a good wife.”

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

I didn’t fail 1000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps.”

There are no rules here, we’re trying to accomplish something.”

Someday, man will harness the rise and fall of the tides, imprison the power of the sun, and release atomic power.”

It’s obvious that we don’t know one millionth of one percent about anything.”

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

People are not remembered by how few times they fail, but by how often they succeed. Every wrong step is another step forward.”

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.”

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

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

The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.”

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

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

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

Great ideas originate in the muscles.”

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.”

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

There is far more opportunity than there is ability.”

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

Not everything of value in life comes from books- experience the world.”

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.”

We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.”

Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”

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.”

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

There will one day spring from the brain of science a machine or force so fearful in its potentialities, so absolutely terrifying, that even man, the fighter, who will dare torture and death in order to inflict torture and death, will be appalled, and so abandon war forever.”

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Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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