Thomas Alva Edison Berühmte Zitate
„Erfinden: ein Prozent Inspiration – neunundneunzig Prozent Transpiration.“
zitiert bei Kurt Tucholsky (Peter Panter): Ein Indianerbuch der Technik (Rezension von ‚Edison, Sein Leben und Erfinden, Erzählt von Ernst Angel‘). Die Weltbühne 23. November 1926 Jahrgang 22, Nummer 47, Seite 830-831
(Original engl.: "Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration." - zitiert als mündliche Bemerkung aus dem Jahr 1903 von Martin André Rosanoff: Edison in his laboratory. In: Harper’s Monthly Magazine. September 1932, S. 406, (online) http://www.harpers.org/archive/1932/09/0018333
"Genius is 1 per cent. inspiration and 99 per cent. perspiration." - zitiert als Edisons "historic remark" von Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin: Edison, His Life and Inventions. New York and London, 1910. gutenberg.org http://www.gutenberg.org/files/820/820.txt und
"Thomas A. Edison is credited with saying that real genius is made up of three parts inspiration and ninety-seven parts perspiration." - Popular Mechanics,Vol. VII No. 8, August 1905, p. 860.
Once, when asked to give his definition of genius, Mr. Edison replied: "Two per cent, is genius and ninety-eight per cent, is hard work." At another time, when the argument that genius was inspiration was brought before him, he said: “Bah! Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.” - The Anecdotal Side of Edison. His Estimate of Genius. Ladies' Home Journal, April 1898 p. 8 books.google http://books.google.de/books?id=LKwiAQAAMAAJ&q=definition
Thomas Alva Edison Zitate und Sprüche
„Es ist sehr schön dort draußen.“
Letzte Worte nach der Biographie von Matthew Josephson: Thomas Alva Edison, Kreißelmeier Verlag, Icking und München, 1969, S. 518
Kurz vor Edisons Tod am 18. Oktober 1931, ohne genaue Datumsangabe: „Eines Tages blicke er zum Fenster hinüber, und seine letzten vernehmbaren Worte lauteten: »Es ist sehr schön dort drüben.«"
Original: engl.: Once he looked toward the window and the last audible words he uttered were: “It is very beautiful over there.”
Quelle: https://books.google.de/books?id=T12mDwAAQBAJ&q=beautiful+over Google Books
The Phonograph and its Future, in: North American Review, Volume 126, Ausgabe 262 (Mai/Juni 1878), S. 527-536, 533 books.google http://books.google.de/books?id=4n8FAAAAQAAJ&q=outrank
Original engl.: "For the purpose of the preserving the sayings, the voices and the last words of the dying member of the family - as of great men - the phonograph will unquestionably outrank the photograph."
Thomas Alva Edison: Zitate auf Englisch
John Burroughs, in "Religious Contrasts : Letters of Pantheist and a Churchman", in The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 4 (October 1921), p. 520.
Misattributed
On his years of research in developing the electric light bulb, as quoted in "Talks with Edison" by George Parsons Lathrop in Harper's magazine, Vol. 80 (February 1890), p. 425.
Kontext: 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. I would construct a theory and work on its lines until I found it was untenable. Then it would be discarded at once and another theory evolved. This was the only possible way for me to work out the problem. … I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed 3,000 different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory. My chief difficulty was in constructing the carbon filament.... Every quarter of the globe was ransacked by my agents, and all sorts of the queerest materials used, until finally the shred of bamboo, now utilized by us, was settled upon.
The Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison (1948), p. 110.
Date unknown
As quoted in Edison & Ford Quote Book (2003) edited by Edison & Ford Winter Estates.
Date unknown
When Thomas Edison visited the Eiffel Tower during the 1889 World's Fair, he signed the guestbook with this message, as quoted in The Tallest Tower by Joseph Harris, p. 95.
1800s
This is presented as a statement of 1877, as quoted in From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison (2007) by Deborah Headstrom-Page, p. 22.
1800s
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.”
As quoted in: [J. L.] Elkhorne. Edison — The Fabulous Drone, in 73 Vol. XLVI, No. 3 (March 1967) http://www.arimi.it/wp-content/73/03_March_1967.pdf, p. 52
Disputed
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
As quoted in An Enemy Called Average (1990) by John L. Mason, p. 55.
Date unknown
“I believe in the existence of a Supreme Intelligence pervading the Universe.”
As quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 293.
1930s
“If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
As quoted in Motivating Humans : Goals, Emotions, and Personal Agency Beliefs (1992) by Martin E. Ford, p. 17.
Date unknown
Variante: If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.
In conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone (1931); as quoted in Uncommon Friends : Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James Newton, p. 31.
“I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it.”
As quoted in American Greats (1999) Edited by Robert A. Wilson and Stanley Marcus, p. 70.
Date unknown
As quoted in Jesus : Myth Or Reality? (2006) by Ian Curtis, p. 289.
Date unknown
“Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.”
As quoted in Artifacts : An Archaeologist's Year in Silicon Valley (2001) by Christine Finn. p. 90.
Date unknown
As quoted in Tesla : The Modern Sorcerer (1999) by Daniel Blair Stewart, p. 411.
Date unknown
Variante: Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I have stolen a lot myself. But at least I know how to steal.
The Freethinker (1970), G.W. Foote & Company, Volume 90, p. 147.
Date unknown
“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
As quoted in Behavior-Based Robotics (1998) by Ronald C. Arkin. p. 8.
Date unknown
“We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.”
As quoted in Golden Book (April 1931), according to Stevenson's Book of Quotations (Cassell 3rd edition 1938) by Burton Egbert Stevenson.
1930s
“So far as the religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake … Religion is all bunk.”
As quoted in What on Earth is an Atheist! (1972) by Madalyn Murray O'Hair, p. 251.
Date unknown
“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”
As quoted in Thomas Alva Edison : Sixty Years of an Inventor's Life (1908) by Francis Arthur Jones, p. 14.
1900s
“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.”
Sir Joshua Reynolds. Edison liked the quote and posted it around his factory.
Misattributed
On his years of research in developing the electric light bulb, as quoted in "Talks with Edison" by George Parsons Lathrop in Harper's magazine, Vol. 80 (February 1890), p. 425.
Variant:
Through all the years of experimenting and research, I never once made a discovery. I start where the last man left off. … All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention pure and simple.
As quoted in Makers of the Modern World : The Lives of Ninety-two Writers, Artists, Scientists, Statesmen, Inventors, Philosophers, Composers, and Other Creators who Formed the Pattern of Our Century (1955) by Louis Untermeyer, p. 227.
1800s
Diary entry, as quoted in Defending and Parenting Children Who Learn Differently : Lessons from Edison's Mother (2007) by Scott Teel, p. 12
Date unknown
Science, if it ever learns the facts, probably will find another more definitely descriptive term.
As quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 295
1930s
