Invention Quotes

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  America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America.

  Jimmy Carter

  Inspirational, Motivational, Real

  Jimmy Carter (1995). “Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation”, Puffin

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• To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.

  Thomas A. Edison

  Inspirational, Science, Imagination Creativity

  "Behavior-Based Robotics". Book by Ronald C. Arkin, 1998.

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• Invention depends altogether upon execution or organization; as that is right or wrong so is the invention perfect or imperfect.

  William Blake

  Organization, Perfect, Execution

  William Blake (2008). “The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake”, p.637, Univ of California Press

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

  Thomas A. Edison

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  14 Copy quote

• Inventing is a combination of brains and materials. The more brains you use, the less material you need.

  Charles Kettering

  Wisdom, Science, Discovery

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• The role of the teacher is to create the conditions for invention rather than provide ready-made knowledge.

  Seymour Papert

  Education, Teacher, School

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• An invention has to make sense in the world it finishes in, not in the world it started.

  Tim O'Reilly

  Ukulele, World, Make Sense

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• Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza.

  Dave Barry

  Book, Drinking, Beer

  Dave Barry (2012). “The Greatest Invention in the History of Mankind Is Beer: And Other Manly Insights from Dave Barry”, p.112, Andrews McMeel Publishing

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• Original artistic invention demands that even the inventor be surprised.

  Judith Schaechter

  Demand, Artistic, Inventor

  7 Copy quote

• Our inventions mirror our secret wishes.

  Lawrence Durrell

  Mirrors, Secret, Wish

  Lawrence Durrell (2012). “The Alexandria Quartet: Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, Clea”, p.476, Faber & Faber

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• I'm more interested in what I discover than what I invent.

  Paul Simon

  Not Interested

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• Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles; he can only discover them.

  Thomas Paine

  Science, Men, Principles

  1794 TheAge of Reason, pt.1.

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• The inventor is a man who looks around upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to improve whatever he sees, he wants to benefit the world; he is haunted by an idea. The spirit of invention possesses him, seeking materialization.

  Alexander Graham Bell

  Men, Ideas, Looks

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• The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.

  Karl Marx

  Work, Philosophical, Technology

  Erich Fromm, Karl Marx (2013). “Marx's Concept of Man: Including 'Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts'”, p.122, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home.

  David Frost

  Inspirational, Home, Humor

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success ... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything.

  Nikola Tesla

  Motivational, Success, Heart

  "Marconi and Tesla: Pioneers of Radio Communication" by Tim O'Shei, (p. 5), 2008.

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• Never keep a line of retreat: it is a wretched invention.

  Fridtjof Nansen

  Lines, Retreat, Wretched

  Quoted in Listener, 14 Dec. 1939 See Calonne 1; Santayana 14; Trollope 3

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• Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Men, Innovation, Insightful

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Lee Grossman (2005). “A Year with Emerson: A Daybook”, p.220, David R. Godine Publisher

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• The environment as we perceive it is our invention.

  Heinz von Foerster

  Environment, Perceive

  Heinz von Foerster (2007). “Understanding Understanding: Essays on Cybernetics and Cognition”, p.212, Springer Science & Business Media

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• We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out of work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.

  John F. Kennedy

  Work, Believe, Men

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• Invention is the talent of youth, as judgment is of age.

  Jonathan Swift

  Judging, Age, Literature

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• An amazing invention - but who would ever want to use one?

  Rutherford B. Hayes

  Use, Want, Telephones

  "Obama Energy Policy Speech: President Dismisses Republican Critics On Oil Drilling". www.huffingtonpost.com. March 15, 2012.

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• Doubt is the father of invention.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Father, Stupidity, Doubt

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• We are more ready to try the untried when what we do is inconsequential. Hence the remarkable fact that many inventions had their birth as toys.

  Eric Hoffer

  Education, Teaching, Playing Games

  Eric Hoffer (1982). “Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer”, HarperCollins Publishers

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• An inventor is simply a fellow who doesn't take his education too seriously.

  Charles Kettering

  Education, Technology, Intelligence

  Charles Franklin Kettering (1961). “Prophet of progress: selections from the speeches of Charles F. Kettering”

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