461 Quotes by Thomas A. Edison

I told [John Kruesi] I was going to record talking, and then have the machine talk back. He thought it absurd. However, it was finished, the foil was put on; I then shouted 'Mary had a little lamb', etc. I adjusted the reproducer, and the machine reproduced it perfectly.[On first words spoken on a phonograph.]

There is no substitute for hard work

Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.

It is astonishing what an effort it seems to be for many people to put their brains definitely and systematically to work.

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. Seeming to do is not doing.

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.

We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.

The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.

So far as the religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake ... Religion is all bunk.