Thoughts by Thomas Alva Edison Quotes in English Quotations

Thomas Alva Edison, the prolific inventor and businessman, left behind an incredible legacy that continues to inspire generations. His wise words and quotes are not only insightful but also timeless. Let's take a moment to delve into some of Thomas Edison's profound thoughts and quotations in English.

1. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." This powerful quote encapsulates Edison's resilience and determination. It reminds us to embrace failure as a stepping stone toward success.

2. "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." This quote serves as a poignant reminder that success often requires hard work and dedication. It encourages us to recognize opportunities in unexpected forms.

3. "The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are hard work, stick-to-itiveness, and common sense." These words underscore the importance of perseverance and practicality in pursuing our goals, emphasizing that success is rooted in determination and grit.

4. "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Edison's belief in the power of persistence shines through in this quote. It encourages us to push beyond obstacles and setbacks, echoing his own relentless pursuit of innovation.

5. "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." This famous saying encapsulates Edison's philosophy that success is primarily the result of hard work and effort, rather than solely relying on innate talent.

Thomas Alva Edison's remarkable insights continue to resonate with individuals across diverse fields, serving as enduring beacons of wisdom. As we reflect on his words, we are reminded of the timeless principles of perseverance, innovation, and unwavering commitment to one's vision.

Thought of the Day by Thomas Alva Edison

Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things 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.

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.

To do much clear thinking a person must arrange for regular periods of solitude when they can concentrate and indulge the imagination without distraction.

As Edison is credited with saying, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." We all want to be successful, but most of us aren't willing to do what those who are successful did to attain it. We want success without sacrifice, but you can't have one without the other!

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.

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.

Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me — the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love — He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us — nature did it all — not the gods of the religions.

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

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.

Never stop learning. Read the entire panorama of literature.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have never failed, I've only shown the way I did it before doesn't work.

- Quotation

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

Opportunity is often missed because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.

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

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

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

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

We often miss opportunity because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.

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

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

He had all the attributes of a perfect man, and, in my opinion, no finer personality ever existed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.

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

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

Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

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

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

So far as the religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake ... Religion is all bunk.

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

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

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.

There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking.

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

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

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