31 Outstanding Quotes From Nikola Tesla

Last updated on Jul 10th, 2023

31 Outstanding Quotes From Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla (born July 9, 1856, Smiljan, Austrian Empire – died January 7, 1943, New York, U.S.) was a Serbian-American inventor and engineer best known for designing the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.

Regarded as the man who invented the 20th century, Tesla’s works and ideas led to several inventions such as radar, radio, transistor, and x-rays. The Tesla coil, which he patented in 1891, is an electrical resonant transformer widely used today in radio technology and other electronic equipment.

Although less famous than Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison, the significance of Tesla’s inventions has increasingly gained importance since the 1990s.

Below you can read some of the best quotes from Nikola Tesla.

The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.Radio Power Will Revolutionize the World in Modern Mechanics and Inventions (July 1934)

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 Quotes
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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.A Talk With Tesla in Cleveland Moffitt, Atlanta Constitution (Jun 7, 1896)

A man cannot be saved from his own foolishness or vice by someone else's efforts or protests, but only by the use of his own will. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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A man cannot be saved from his own foolishness or vice by someone else’s efforts or protests, but only by the use of his own will.Making Your Imagination Work for You by M. K. Wisehart in The American Magazine (April, 1921)

Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Today’s scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.Radio Power Will Revolutionize the World in Modern Mechanics and Inventions (July 1934)

The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter — for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and labors and hopes. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter – for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and labors and hopes.The Problem of Increasing Human Energy in The Century Magazine (June, 1900)

Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic! If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic — and this we know it is, for certain — then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic? If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic – and this we know it is, for certain – then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature.Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency (February 1892)

Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surrounding, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surrounding, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance.How Cosmic Forces Shape Our Destinies (Did the War Cause the Italian Earthquake) in New York American (February 7, 1915)

This planet, with all its appalling immensity, is to electric currents virtually no more than a small metal ball. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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This planet, with all its appalling immensity, is to electric currents virtually no more than a small metal ball.The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires in Electrical World and Engineer (March 5, 1904)

Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable. These ties cannot be seen, but we can feel them. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable. These ties cannot be seen, but we can feel them.The Problem of Increasing Human Energy in Century Illustrated Magazine (June 1900)

In the twenty-first century, the robot will take the place which slave labor occupied in ancient civilization. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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In the twenty-first century, the robot will take the place which slave labor occupied in ancient civilization.A Machine to End War in Liberty Magazine (February 9, 1935)

The spread of civilization may be likened to a fire; first, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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The spread of civilization may be likened to that of fire: First, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power.What Science May Achieve This Year - New Mechanical Principle for Conservation of Energy in Denver Rocky Mountain News (January 16, 1910)

Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world.The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires as a Means for Furthering Peace in Electrical World and Engineer (January 7, 1905)

Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.The Problem of Increasing Human Energy in Century Illustrated Magazine (June 1900)

We all make mistakes, and it is better to make them before we begin. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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We all make mistakes, and it is better to make them before we begin.Tesla, Man and Inventor by George Heli Guy in New York Times (March 31, 1895)

Money does not represent such a value as men have placed upon it. All my money has been invested into experiments with which I have made new discoveries enabling mankind to have a little easier life. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Money does not represent such a value as men have placed upon it. All my money has been invested into experiments with which I have made new discoveries enabling mankind to have a little easier life.A Visit to Nikola Tesla by Dragislav L. Petkovic in Politika (April 1927)

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Of all the frictional resistances, the one that most retards human movement is ignorance, what Buddha called 'the greatest evil in the world.' - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Of all the frictional resistances, the one that most retards human movement is ignorance.The Problem of Increasing Human Energy in Century Illustrated Magazine (June 1900)

Instinct is something which transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Instinct is something which transcends knowledge. We have, undoubtedly, certain finer fibers that enable us to perceive truths when logical deduction, or any other willful effort of the brain, is futile.My Inventions in The Electrical Experimenter Magazine (1919)

It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects.The Wonder World To Be Created By Electricity in Manufacturer's Record (September 9, 1915)

The individual is ephemeral, races and nations come and pass away, but man remains. Therein lies the profound difference between the individual and the whole. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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The individual is ephemeral, races and nations come and pass away, but man remains. Therein lies the profound difference between the individual and the whole.The Problem of Increasing Human Energy in Century Illustrated Magazine (June, 1900)

Invention is the most important product of man's creative brain. The ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of human nature to human needs. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Invention is the most important product of man’s creative brain. The ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of human nature to human needs.My Inventions in Electrical Experimenter Magazine (1919)

The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention.My Inventions in Electrical Experimenter Magazine (1919)

Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.Tesla Sees Evidence Radio and Light Are Sound by Orrin E. Dunlap Jr. in New York Times (April 8, 1934)

Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.A Machine to End War in Liberty Magazine (February 9, 1935)

The desire that guides me in all I do is the desire to harness the forces of nature to the service of mankind. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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My paramount desire today, which guides me in everything I do, is an ambition to harness the forces of nature for the service of mankind.Radio Power Will Revolutionize the World in Modern Mechanix and Inventions (July, 1934)

Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Peace can only come as a natural consequence of universal enlightenment.My Inventions in Electrical Experimenter Magazine (1919)

Fights between individuals, as well as governments and nations, invariably result from misunderstandings in the broadest interpretation of this term. Misunderstandings are always caused by the inability of appreciating one another's point of view. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Fights between individuals, as well as governments and nations, invariably result from misunderstandings in the broadest interpretation of this term. Misunderstandings are always caused by the inability of appreciating one another’s point of view. The Transmission of Electrical Energy Without Wires as a Means for Furthering Peace in Electrical World and Engineer (January 7, 1905)

Three possible solutions of the great problem of increasing human energy are answered by the three words: food, peace, work. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Three possible solutions of the great problem of increasing human energy are answered by the three words: food, peace, work.The Problem of Increasing Human Energy in Century Illustrated Magazine (June 1900)

Man, like the universe, is a machine. Nothing enters our minds or determines our actions which is not directly or indirectly a response to stimuli beating upon our sense organs from without. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Man, like the universe, is a machine. Nothing enters our minds or determines our actions which is not directly or indirectly a response to stimuli beating upon our sense organs from without.A Machine to End War in Liberty Magazine (February 9, 1935)

The last twenty-nine days of the month are the toughest! - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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The last twenty-nine days of the month are the toughest!My Inventions in Electrical Experimenter magazine (1919)

We crave for new sensations but soon become indifferent to them. The wonders of yesterday are today common occurrences. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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We crave for new sensations but soon become indifferent to them. The wonders of yesterday are today common occurrences.My Inventions in Electrical Experimenter magazine (1919)

Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine. - Nikola Tesla Quotes
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Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.A Visit to Nikola Tesla by Dragislav L. Petkovic in Politika (April 1927)

No Source

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The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.No source

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I don’t care that they stole my idea… I care that they don’t have any of their own.No source

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What one man calls God, another calls the laws of physics.No source

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