Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Clearly, this renowned inventor possessed an innovative spirit – a spirit unbowed by failures and setbacks but fired up with creative possibility! Some of my favorite Thomas Edison quotes are about not giving up and working hard until you reach success.
So let’s take today to look back at the inspiring words of one of America’s most famous inventors, Thomas Alva Edison. From his musings on knowledge and creativity to his insight into age-old questions like failure and success, these 57 quotes will have you feeling inspired in no time!
I hope you enjoy these quotes by Thomas Edison…
1) “What a man’s mind can create, man’s character should control.” – Thomas Edison
2) “Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.” – Thomas Edison
3) “There are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.” – Thomas Edison
4) “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.” – Thomas Edison
5) “The brain can be developed just the same as the muscles can be developed, if one will only take the pains to train the mind to think.” – Thomas Edison
6) “I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.” – Thomas Edison
7) “Continued innovation is the best way to beat the competition.” – Thomas Edison
8) “I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.” – Thomas Edison
9) “You can’t realize your dreams unless you have one, to begin with.” – Thomas Edison
Hustle. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
10) “Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.” – Thomas Edison
11) “The first requisite for success is to develop the ability to focus.” – Thomas Edison
12) “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.” – Thomas Edison
13) “I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.” – Thomas Edison
14) “A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.” – Thomas Edison
15) “To have a great idea, have a lot of them.” – Thomas Edison
16) “Hard work, nothing to divert my thought, clear air, and simple food made my life very pleasant.” – Thomas Edison
17) “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
18) “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.” – Thomas Edison
19) “If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” – Thomas Edison
One of many famous quotes by Thomas Alva Edison…
20) “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
21) “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.” – Thomas Edison
22) “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.” – Thomas Edison
23) “When we learn how to store electricity, we will cease being apes ourselves; until then we are tailless orangutans. You see, we should utilize natural forces and thus get all of our power. 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
24) “I don’t live with the past; I am living for to-day and to-morrow.” – Thomas Edison
25) “The man who doesn’t make up his mind to cultivate the habit of thinking misses the greatest pleasure in life.” – Thomas Edison
26) “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
27) “Maturity is often more absurd than youth and very frequently is most unjust to youth.” – Thomas Edison
28) “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…” – Thomas Edison
29) “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.” – Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison quotes on failure.
30) “I’ve never made a mistake. I’ve only learned from experience.” – Thomas Edison
31) “Not everything of value in life comes from books – experience the world.” – Thomas Edison
32) “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.” – Thomas Edison
33) “The only time I really become discouraged is when I think of all the things I would like to do and the little time I have in which to do them.” – Thomas Edison
34) “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
35) “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas Edison
36) “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.” – Thomas Edison
37) “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.” – Thomas Edison
38) “You can’t realize your dreams unless you have one to begin with.” – Thomas Edison
39) “Restlessness is discontent – and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man – and I will show you a failure.” – Thomas Edison
Simply remember that you have not failed, you’re on the precipice of success.
40) “Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
41) “We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present.” – Thomas Edison
42) “I start where the last man left off.” – Thomas Edison
43) “Success is the product of the severest kind of mental and physical application.” – Thomas Edison
44) “A genius is a talented person who does his homework.” – Thomas Edison
45) “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: hard work, stick-to-itiveness, and common sense.” – Thomas Edison
46) “I never view mistakes as failures. They are simply opportunities to find out what doesn’t work.” – Thomas Edison
47) “To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” – Thomas Edison
48) “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.” – Thomas Edison
49) “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison quotes about hard work and perseverance.
50) “There is no substitute for hard work.” – Thomas Edison
51) “Vision without execution is hallucination.” – Thomas Edison
52) “There’s a way to do it better. Find it.” – Thomas Edison
53) “We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
54) “What you are will show in what you do.” – Thomas Edison
55) “When I have finally decided that a result is worth getting, I go ahead on it and make trial after trial until it comes.” – Thomas Edison
56) “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.” – Thomas Edison
57) “Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.” – Thomas Edison
Please share these Thomas Edison quotes with your friends and family.
