Nikola Tesla Quotes

“Steve Jobs said creativity is “just connecting things.” Salvador Dali said “those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.” Picasso said “good artists copy but great artists steal.” Mark Twain said “all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources.” No magnificent product of the imagination—whether a machine, painting, or philosophy—was created in a complete vacuum. The invention of the telegraph took the efforts of a thousand, but the last man, who added that final inspired touch, got the credit. When you start viewing”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“the seed of greatness exists in every human being. Whether it sprouts or not is our choice. Second, that there are no such things as natural-born under- or overachievers—there are simply people that tap into their true potentials and people that don’t. What is generally recognized as “great talent” is, in almost all cases, nothing more than the outward manifestations of an unwavering dedication to a process.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Later that month, Tesla arrived at the Straasbourg railway station to travel to the harbor and board the ocean liner Saturnia, which would take him to New York City—to Edison. His uncles had given him some money, and his boss had given him a letter of recommendation that read, “I know two great men and you are one of them; the other is this young man.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“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.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“If you’ve ever dreamed of playing a hand in the development of humankind, or if you just have a burning desire to improve one small aspect of it, then you have an adventure waiting. Will you take it? This book is your invitation.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered—either by themselves or by others.” -Mark Twain”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Within a week, the entire nation was raving about alternating current as the future of electricity. The fair was a debilitating blow to Edison’s direct current, and foreshadowed the coup de grace in the War”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“increase your IQ by thirty points, would you be interested in reading that”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Thus, the advice of “work toward your ten thousand hours” sounds completely reasonable. Right? But there’s a problem. There are millions of people that work incredibly hard, yet have little success to show for it. Is ten thousand hours too simple of a prescription for greatness? Yes. It overlooks another aspect of great achievement that cannot be ignored: opportunities—conditions that often appear to be plain old dumb luck. -”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Expand your interests in life. Seek out new, interesting experiences, no matter how mundane or inconsequential they might seem to others.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Einstein attributed many of his physics breakthroughs to his violin breaks, which he believed helped him connect ideas in very different ways.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“every field of human endeavor, the more visionary the work, the less likely it is to be quickly understood and embraced by lesser minds.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Salvador Dali said “those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“There is no shortage of problems to be solved, needs and desires to be fulfilled, and innovative ways to help others.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“as Tesla put it, “A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in bygone times may have altered the course of his life, may have changed the destiny of nations, may have transformed the surface of the globe; so intricate, so inconceivably complex are the processes in Nature.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“All great geniuses are incredibly creative in their own ways. They’re able to take what is known, dream of new possibilities, and bring them into the world. Every mathematical enigma solved, every masterful symphony composed, every revolutionary machine invented, every brilliant philosophy penned, every great corporation built...they all sprang from a person with an extraordinary imagination.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Ray Bradbury said that thinking is the enemy of creativity because it’s self-conscious. When you think you sit calmly and try to reason through something in a structured, logical way. Creativity dances to a different tune. Once you flip that switch, things get a bit chaotic. Ideas start buzzing. Images start popping into your head. Fragments of all kinds of data find their way into orbit.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“U.S. Department of Labor’s list of highest-paying jobs, or do”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Your mind has an incredible ability to cross-pollinate—that is, to connect disparate things to solve problems in unique ways or envision new creations. Einstein attributed many of his physics breakthroughs to his violin breaks, which he believed helped him connect ideas in very different ways.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Joseph Campbell said, deep down inside, we don’t seek the meaning of life, but the experience of being alive.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was “too stupid to learn anything.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“deep down inside, we don’t seek the meaning of life, but the experience of being alive.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Seek out new, interesting experiences,”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“There’s a lesson here. In every field of human endeavor, the more visionary the work, the less likely it is to be quickly understood and embraced by lesser minds. For one reason or another, many people just “don’t get it.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“the “10,000 hour” rule. The rule’s premise is that, regardless of whether one has an innate aptitude for an activity or not, mastery of it takes around ten thousand hours of focused, intentional practice. Analyzing the lives of geniuses in a wide range of intellectual, artistic, and athletic pursuits confirms this concept. From Mozart to Bobby Fischer to Bill Gates to the Beatles, their diverse journeys from nothing toward excellence in their respective fields shared a common denominator: the accumulation of ten thousand hours of unwavering “exercise” of their crafts. To put that number in perspective, if you practiced an activity four hours per day, seven days per week, it would take you about seven years to reach ten thousand hours. That kind of dedication can only come from the heart—a true love and passion for the activity. So, what does all this tell us? First, that the seed of greatness exists in every human being. Whether it sprouts or not is our choice. Second, that there are no such things as natural-born under- or overachievers—there are simply people that tap into their true potentials and people that don’t. What is generally recognized as “great talent” is, in almost all cases, nothing more than the outward manifestations of an unwavering dedication to a process.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Henry Ford failed in business several times and was flat broke five times before he founded the Ford Motor Company. In his youth, Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was “too stupid to learn anything.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“ages that determine whether you can play another year in your current age bracket as”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“Don’t confuse creativity and imagination with “thinking” either. Ray Bradbury said that thinking is the enemy of creativity because it’s self-conscious. When you think you sit calmly and try to reason through something in a structured, logical way. Creativity dances to a different tune. Once you flip that switch, things get a bit chaotic. Ideas start buzzing. Images start popping into your head. Fragments of all kinds of data find their way into orbit. We’re pulled in one direction, then suddenly our instincts send us flying in another. Material collides and fuses, disappears and reappears. This chaos is essential to the creative process. A breakthrough occurs when pieces happen to come together in unique and harmonic ways. “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.”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“an explanation is convenient, but is it correct?”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century

“condemned, by the most powerful man in America. Despite his continued efforts, Tesla watched in horror as his Wardenclyffe dream began to fade. Only months later, in 1904, the U.S. Patent Office stripped Tesla of his radio patents”
― Sean Patrick, Nikola Tesla: Imagination and the Man That Invented the 20th Century