Thomas Edison

1847–1931 · American inventor and businessman

Topics: learning, creativity, debugging, science

• 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.

  — Thomas Edison

• 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.

  — Thomas Edison

• 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.

  — Thomas Edison

• Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.

  — Thomas Edison

• We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.

  — Thomas Edison