Quotes By Thomas Alva Edison

Somewhere between the ages of eleven and fifteen, the average child begins to suffer from an atrophy, the paralysis of curiosity and the suspension of the power to observe. The trouble, I should judge, to lie with the schools.

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

I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God.

My mother was the making of me. She was so true and so sure of me, I felt that I had someone to live for - someone I must not disappoint. The memory of my mother will always be a blessing to me.

If parents pass enthusiasm along to their children, they will leave them an estate of incalculable value.

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

I am 67, but I'm not too old to make a fresh start.

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

From his neck down a man is worth a couple of dollars a day, from his neck up he is worth anything that his brain can produce.

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

Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I've stolen a lot, myself. But I know how to steal! They don't know how to steal!

I failed my way to success.

Success is the result of hard work.

My principal business is giving commercial value to the brilliant - but misdirected - ideas of others.

The stomach is the only part of man which can be fully satisfied. The yearning of man's brain for new knowledge and experience and for more pleasant and comfortable surroundings never can be completely met. It is an appetite which cannot be appeased.

Sleep is like a drug. Take too much at a time and it makes you dopey. You lose time and opportunities.

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

The strength of the Constitution, lies in the will of the people to defend it.

To get a great idea, come up with lots of them.

Education isn't play--and it can't be made to look like play. It is hard, hard work. But it can be made interesting work.