What, sir, you would make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her decks? I pray you excuse me. I have no time to listen to such nonsense. (to Robert Fulton)
Inventions - Inventors Quotes
Invention is the talent of youth, as judgment is of age.
Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others.
The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
I don’t mind occasionally having to reinvent a wheel; I don’t even mind using someone’s reinvented wheel occasionally. But it helps a lot if it is symmetric, contains no fewer than ten sides, and has the axle centered. I do tire of trapezoidal wheels with offset axles
Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.
Trust you will avoid the gigantic mistake of alternating current. (writing to Niagara Falls Power Company)
Hard work is the soundest investment. It provides a neat security for your widow’s next husband.
The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. This is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood […]
Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. (1895)
