Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

by Sean Patrick

“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered—either by themselves or by others.” -Mark Twain

Opportunities are whispers, not foghorns.

Well, as the preeminent mythologist Joseph Campbell said, deep down inside, we don’t seek the meaning of life, but the experience of being alive. And that’s what the nature of genius is ultimately about.

“Facts and ideas are dead in themselves and it is the imagination that gives life to them.” -W. I. B. Beveridge

The philosopher Edmund Burke said “there is a boundary to men’s passions when they act from feelings; but none when they are under the influence of imagination.”

“Our first endeavors are purely instinctive prompting of an imagination vivid and undisciplined,” Tesla wrote. “As we grow older reason asserts itself and we become more and more systematic and designing. But those early impulses, though not immediately productive, are of the greatest moment and may shape our very destinies.”

Before you can connect dots, you need to have dots to connect. The more material you’re exposed to in the world, the more grist you’ll have for your imagination mill.

The more varied your knowledge and experiences are, the more likely you are to be able to create new associations and fresh ideas.