When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting I go ahead of it and make trial after trial until it comes.
They say President Wilson has blundered. Perhaps he has, but I notice he usually blunders forward.
His genius he was quite content in one brief sentence to define; Of inspiration one percent, of perspiration, ninety nine.
Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work.
I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill.
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
Waste is worse than loss. The time is coming when every person who lays claim to ability will keep the question of waste before him constantly. The scope of thrift is limitless.
It is astonishing what an effort it seems to be for many people to put their brains definitely and systematically to work.
I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.
Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.
To have a great idea, have a lot of them.
The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work.
To my mind the old masters are not art; their value is in their scarcity.
I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.
Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged.
What a man's mind can create, man's character can control.
Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business. Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous. Be brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!
I start where the last man left off.
The body is a community made up of its innumerable cells or inhabitants.
The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.
Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.
The value of an idea lies in the using of it.
There is far more opportunity than there is ability.
I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.
Discontent is the first necessity of progress.
Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.
Religion is all bunk.
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Maturity is often more absurd than youth and very frequently is most unjust to youth.
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.
Your worth consists in what you are and not in what you have.
Great ideas originate in the muscles.
The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.
I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.
What you are will show in what you do.
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.
The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.
There's a way to do it better - find it.
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.
There is no substitute for hard work.
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
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.
I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us- everything that exists - proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision.
