Inventive Genius - Inventors' Quotes

Great minds have great ideas. Some of these men are humble, some hopeful, some thrifty, some industrious. Here are some quotes made by a few of history's most innovative and creative thinkers. These words give us a glimpse into the personalities of these great men. Can you draw a conclusion about a personality trait based on these quotes? What words come to mind when you read the words of these inventive geniuses? To read a biography of the inventor, click on the picture.
Alexander Graham Bell When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully, upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.
George Washington Carver How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also - if you love them enough.
Leonardo da Vinci As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.
Thomas A. Edison Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking. We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. Great ideas originate in the muscles. Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work. I am long on ideas, but short on time. I only expect to live only about a hundred years.
Albert Einstein Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe. I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor. Imagination is more important than knowledge The difference between what the most and the least learned people know is inexpressibly trivial in relation to that which is unknown. We cannot despair of humanity, since we are ourselves human beings. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
Henry Ford Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement. I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done. If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. People can have the Model T in any color--so long as it's black. You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Benjamin Franklin Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none. Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to get leisure. He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade? There never was a good war or a bad peace. If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.
Galileo Galilei All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him find it within himself.
Isaac Newton If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent. If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants. No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess. I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.