Thomas Alva Edison, the renowned inventor and businessman, believed that failure and learning from each failure were essential to invention and innovation. His philosophy sees failures as attempts at success and emphasizes that his attempts were actually “ways that didn’t work”.
Quote of the day by Thomas Alva Edison on the road to success: “I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
What does this quote mean?
This quote emphasizes the values of persistence and learning over discouragement. Thomas Alva Edison celebrates the path to success that comes with enormous difficulties and obstacles and presented an optimistic approach to it, describing it as a forerunner of the Enlightenment. He saw these experiments as building blocks and necessary steps towards great breakthrough creations.
One of the most influential figures in the history of modern technology, Thomas Alva Edison made a number of important contributions in areas such as electricity, motion pictures, and telecommunications, among others. Edison faced many failures during his experiment with the light bulb, with his electric voice recorder, and with the electric car battery. Although he struggled for years, he did not give up and was determined to make it and he did right by writing his name in his history.
What values do we learn from this quote?
This quote highlights the importance of persistence and suggests that one should not be discouraged if the results are not as expected, instead one should re-examine, revise and re-evaluate to make progress.
How is Thomas Alva Edison’s quote relevant today?
Many of Edison’s quotes about innovation, entrepreneurship and perseverance are still relevant and meaningful today. His quote teaches the youth to learn from failure, think creatively, work hard, follow passion and strive to achieve aspirations.
Born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio
Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. During his early days, he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his first inventions.
