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.
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.
The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention.
The opinion of the world does not affect me. I have placed as the real values in my life what follows when I am dead.
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.
Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.
Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world.
Of all the frictional resistances, the one that most retards human movement is ignorance.
My project was retarded by laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time. But the same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success.
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.
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.
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.
