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Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla Quotes

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Famous Nikola Tesla Quotes

“His [Thomas Edison] method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to be covered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90 per cent of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense. In view of this, the truly prodigious amount of his actual accomplishments is little short of a miracle.”

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Author:Nikola Tesla
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“If he [Thomas Edison] had a needle to find in a haystack, he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be, but would proceed at once with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. ... [J]ust a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor.”

IfsLittlesReasonScienceFoundObjectsTheoryPercentLaborSavedBeesNinetyDiligenceNeedlesCalculationsStrawsUst
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“Einstein's relativity work is a magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king... its exponents are brilliant men but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists.”

PeopleMenIgnoranceTheoryKingsScientistBlindErrorsBrilliantIgnorantMathematicalMagnificentPurpleBeggarRelativityDazzleIgnorant PeopleExponents
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“I can now state that I have succeeded in operating a motive device by means of [cosmic rays]. I will tell you in the most general way, the cosmic ray ionizes the air, setting free many charges - ions and electrons. These charges are captured in a condenser which is made to discharge through the circuit of the motor.”

WayMeanMadeI CanStatesEnergyAirSettingSettingsMotiveDevicesRaysCosmicMotorCapturedCircuitsDischargeElectronsIonsCosmic Rays
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“If we use our fuel to get our power, we are living on our capital and exhausting it rapidly. This method is barbarous and wantonly wasteful, and will have to be stopped in the interest of coming generations. The heat of the sun's rays represents an immense amount of energy vastly in excess of waterpower...The sun's energy controlled to create lakes and rivers for motive purposes and transformation of arid deserts into fertile land.”

IfsUsePurposeEnergyInterestSunGenerationsLandAmountRiversTransformationMethodClimate ChangeDesertHeatMotiveFuelLakesControlledRaysExcessImmenseLiving OnExhaustingFertileLakes And RiversHeat Of The Sun
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“That is the trouble with many inventors; they lack patience. They lack the willingness to work a thing out slowly and clearly and sharply in their mind, so that they can actually "feel it work." They want to try their first idea right off; and the result is they use up lots of money and lots of good material, only to find eventually that they are working in the wrong direction. We all make mistakes, and it is better to make them before we begin.”

WantFeelsTryingMindFirstsIdeasUseResultsMistakeTroubleMaterialsMaking MistakesWillingnessLots Of MoneyInventorWrong DirectionWe All Make Mistakes
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in my thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance.”

IfsMindIdeasRunningImaginationBuildingBalanceTestsNotesImprovementShopsDevicesConstructionMy ThoughtsMy ImaginationTurbines
Book:My Inventions: And Other Writings
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“But the female mind has demonstrated a capacity for all the mental acquirements and achievements of men, and as generations ensue that capacity will be expanded; the average woman will be as well educated as the average man, and then better educated, for the dormant faculties of her brain will be stimulated to an activity that will be all the more intense and powerful because of centuries of repose. Woman will ignore precedent and startle civilization with their progress.”

MenMindWellsWomenPowerfulBrainProgressGenerationsCenturyHe ManCivilizationActivityAchievementCapacityFemaleAverageIntenseEducatedFacultyReposePrecedentDormantAverage ManWell EducatedFemale Mind
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“I never have, above my signature, announced anything that I did not prove first. That is the reason why no statement of mine was ever contradicted, and I do not think it will be, because whenever I publish something I go through it first by experiment, then from experiment I calculate, and when I have the theory and practice meet I announce the results.”

ThinkingFirstsReasonResultsPracticeMinesTheoryProveExperimentsStatementsReason WhyPublishSignaturesTheory And Practice
Book:Nikola Tesla on His Work with Alternating Currents and Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony, and Transmission of Power: An Extended Interview
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“Archimedes was my ideal. I admired the works of artists, but to my mind, they were only shadows and semblances. The inventor, I thought, gives to the world creations which are palpable, which live and work.”

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Book:Simpozij Nikola Tesla: u okviru programa proslave 120. obljetnice rođenja Nikole Tesle : Zagreb, Smiljan, Gospić, 7-10. jula 1976
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“We are whirling through endless space with an inconceivable speed, all around us everything is spinning, everything is moving, everywhere is energy. There mart be some way of availing ourselves of this energy more directly. Then; with the light obtained from the medium, with the power derived from it, with every form of energy obtained without effort, from the store forever inexhaustible, humanity will advance with giant strides. The mere contemplation of these magnificent possibilities expand our minds, strengthens our hopes and and fills our hearts with supreme delight.”

WayMindHeartLightMovingFormHumanityEnergySpaceEffortForeverPossibilityMereDelightSpeedStoresSupremeEndlessMediumsContemplationGiantsMagnificentSpinningStride
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“I have been feeding pigeons, thousands of them for years. But there was one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different. It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me. I loved that pigeon as a man loves a women, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.”

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Author:Nikola Tesla
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“They say much about the Einstein's theory now. According to Einstein the ether does not exist and many people agree with him. But it is a mistake in my opinion. Ether's opponents refer to the experiments of Maykelson - Morli [Michelson-Morley] who made attempts to detect the Earth's movement relative to the fixed-bed ether. These experiments failed, however it didn't mean the ether's non-existence. I always based as fact the existence of mechanical ether in my works and therefore I could achieve positive success.”

PeopleMeanDoeMadeFactsEarthExistenceMistakeOpinionAchieveMovementTheoryBedAgreeExperimentsFixedOpponentsRelativeNon ExistencePositive Success
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“Most persons are so absorbed in the contemplation of the outside world that they are wholly oblivious to what is passing on within themselves. The premature death of millions is primarily traceable to this cause. Even among those who exercise care, it is a common mistake to avoid imaginary, and ignore the real dangers. And what is true of an individual also applies, more or less, to a people as a whole.”

PeopleWorldPersonsRealWholeCareIndividualCausesCommonMistakeMillionsDangerExercisePassingPassingsContemplationImaginaryOutside WorldPrematureObliviousPassing OnPremature Death
Book:My Inventions Nikola Tesla's Autobiography
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“I am unwilling to accord to some small−minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts. These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. 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.”

MenWorldEndsLawIndividualEffortDiseaseProjectsPreparedSatisfactionJealousNastyLaws Of NatureAccordUnwillingRetardedAhead Of TimeMicrobesSmall Minds
Author:Nikola Tesla
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“If the genius of invention were to reveal to-morrow the secret of immortality, of eternal beauty and youth, for which all humanity is aching, the same inexorable agents which prevent a mass from changing suddenly its velocity would likewise resist the force of the new knowledge until time gradually modifies human thought.”

IfsHumansHumanityForceSecretYouthGeniusEternalMassInventionAgentsImmortalityMorrowVelocityHuman ThoughtInexorableNew KnowledgeEternal Beauty
Book:The Nikola Tesla Treasury
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“Alternate currents, especially of high frequencies, pass with astonishing freedom through even slightly rarefied gases. The upper strata of the air are rarefied. To reach a number of miles out into space requires the overcoming of difficulties of a merely mechanical nature.”

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Book:Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency: [Illustrated & Biography Added]
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