Tesla quotes in his handwriting font

Nikola Tesla Quotes - Page 5

Profound words from, or about, the world's greatest inventor
Displaying 41 - 50 of 137

I predict that very shortly the old-fashioned incandescent lamp, having a filament heated to brightness by the passage of electric current through it, will entirely disappear.

April, 1930

I do not believe in laziness, and I should like to see the loafer wiped from the face or the earth; but I want that those who are willing to work should accomplish their results with the least labor and in the best way.

December 18th, 1904

They (decorations) mean nothing — take them away. The only thing that counts is the good that my work might bring to humanity.

July 11th, 1937

It is probable that we shall perfect instruments for indicating the altitude of a place by means of a circuit, properly constructed and arranged, and I have thought of a number of other uses to which this principle may be put.

January 30th, 1901

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.

March 31st, 1895

Th[e] problem was rendered extremely difficult, owing to the immense dimensions of the planet... But by gradual and continuous improvements of a generator of electrical oscillations... I finally succeeded in reaching rates of delivery of electrical energy actually surpassing those of lightning discharges... By use of such a generator of stationary waves and receiving apparatus properly placed and adjusted in any other locality, however remote, it is practicable to transmit intelligible signals, or to control or actuate at will any one apparatus for many other important and valuable purposes.

May 16th, 1900

I know I'm its father but I don't like it. I just don't like it. It's a nuisance. I never listen to it... (concerning radio)

July 18th, 1932

Tesla's grand scheme is intellectually-exciting and vibrant, his practical product is grandiose and far reaching, but his plan will ultimately prove too big an undertaking for the time. His work in Colorado will truly be his finest hour.

1994

I have hundreds of inventions which I could not take the patents of, on account of my misfortune.


The practical success of an idea, irrespective of its inherent merit, is dependent on the attitude of the contemporaries. If timely it is quickly adopted; if not, it is apt to fare like a sprout lured out of the ground by warm sunshine, only to be injured and retarded in its growth by the succeeding frost.

January 16th, 1910