Authors / Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison quotes

1847–1931 · American inventor

Edison held more than a thousand patents. His remarks were reported by journalists, often in slightly different words each time.

1 real · 1 not theirs

Really theirs

1 quotes traced to Thomas Edison's own work or a reliable witness.

Attributed

Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.

Source: Reported in Harper's Monthly (September 1932), recalling a remark from c. 1903

Not theirs

1 famous lines credited to Thomas Edison that are misquoted, unsourced or belong to someone else.

Misquoted

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

The real words: A modern version. His biographers Dyer and Martin (1910) report him saying: "Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won't work."