A Quote by Thomas A. Edison

I try not to invent things that people don't need.

Thomas A. Edison

Quote Topics

Invent Need People Things Try

Quote Author

Thomas A. Edison
American - Inventor
February 11, 1847 - October 18, 1931

I don't think I've invented anything. Henry Ford didn't invent the car, and Steve Jobs didn't invent the cell phone, and he didn't invent the digital revolution, but he could adapt, put things together in creative ways. So I think in what we do there's a lot of "let's try it and sees," whether it's a new color or a new style. But we didn't invent cosmetics or lingerie. How we market them - style, color - those are the things that we do, but it isn't pure creation. It's putting together ideas. I truly believe there's nothing really new in the world.

Les Wexner

You need to invent things and you need to get them to people. You need to commercialize those inventions. Obviously, the best way we've come up with doing that is through companies.

Larry Page

You can invent things like automatic popcorn poppers. You can invent things like steam-powered window washers. But you can’t invent more time.

Daniel Handler

When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution...Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.

Paul Virilio

I try not to invent; I try simply to translate the weird language of the natural world. And I'm not into absolute ownership of things.

Alice Oswald

Vanity is not having facelifts if you're ugly. Those people who say: 'Oh, I'd never dream of having anything done!' That's rude. It's rude, to other people, to not try and look your best; to not try and stir things up, to not reinvent... or just invent... it's one's duty to not get stuffy.

Nicholas Haslam

The way I try to simplify my job is that I have two lists - I have a list of all the crazy, interesting problems that I get to solve every day or that need to be solved, and I have a crazy list of things I'd like to invent. And I kind of just prioritize them and work my way down, and try to simplify what I do when managing a big company.

Travis Kalanick

Our job as actors is to invent the things that bridge ourselves with the characters, so you have to build something if it's not there - you try and learn what makes people behave in a certain way.

Johnny Flynn

I like my job because it involves learning. I like being around smart people who are trying to figure out new things. I like the fact that if people really try they can figure out how to invent things that actually have an impact.

Bill Gates

Even if a hundred ton boulder should fall, I would be safe! When I say this, everyone laughs and wonders how. No need to try to stop it, just move out of the way. You do not have a problem if you do not try to take it on yourself. Most people suffer because they try to take upon themselves things which they do not need to.

Koichi Tohei

You need to understand things in order to invent beyond them.

Bill Gates

We can ask ourselves why we invent God, and then, ten minutes later, we invent Satan - why? Because we need him; there's something fascinating about the other side of the coin.

Mads Mikkelsen

I don't know why I feel the need to try and do everything. But I kind of have this mentality that you live once, and I have a lot of things that I want to do and there's a lot of things that I want to try. So I have to at least give it a shot before I don't try at all or like, give up on things.

Eric Nam

I try to teach people to make fewer mistakes. But in designing economic policies, we need to take full account of the fact that people are busy, they're absent minded, they're lazy, and that we should try to make things as easy for them as possible.

Richard Thaler

It's nice to have it recognised that I'm doing well and to have people saying good things about me, but I try not to take too much interest. I just try to focus on my own game and what I need to do to improve.