Quotes - The Nikola Tesla association | Genius for the future

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Quotes

About Nikola Tesla
SONGS

"A song for Tesla", the composer Mr. Franjo Matok
 











ATRIBUTED QUOTATIONS
  • „I don't regret that others stole my ideas. I am sorry they don't have their own" (On inventions and patents)

  • „A man is born to work, to suffer and to fight; he who doesn't, must perish."

  • „In crystal we have a pure evidence of the existence of a formative life principle, and although in spite of everything we cannot understand the life of crystals - it is still a living being." (Nikola Tesla, 1900)

  • „Crystals are living beings at the beginning of creation."

  • „All things have a frequency and a vibration."

  • „We are all one. People are interconnected by invisible forces. Although we have the freedom to think and act, we stick together, like stars on the heavenly arc, with unbreakable connections. These connections cannot be seen, but we can feel them."

  • „I strongly believe in the rule of compensation. True awards are always in proportion with work and sacrifices." (About his research work)

  • „Let the future tell the truth, let it judge each man according to his work and merit. The present is theirs, but the future is mine, the future for which I worked so hard." (About his inventions and merits)

  • „Peace in the world can only come as a natural consequence of universal illumination."

  • „I don't think there is any deeper fulfilment that can capture a human heart than the feeling of an inventor seeing his ideas materialized. Such feelings make man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything."

  • „The progress and development of man are of immeasurable importance for humanity and are essentially dependent on invention."

  • „The most important product of a creative mind is an invention. Its ultimate aim is the rule of mind over nature and the use of its forces for the needs of mankind."

  • „The inventor finds a huge compensation in the pleasure offered by his work and in knowing that he is an individual of extraordinary capabilities without whom our species would long be extinct in the fierce struggle against merciless elements."

  • The practical success of an idea, irrespective of inherent possibilities, depends on the attitude of contemporaries."

  • Of all the forces of friction' the one which mostly slows down the human progress is ignorance, the thing called by Buddha �The greatest evil in the world'.

  • The gift of mental energy comes from God, the supreme being and if we concentrate our thoughts on this truth we get into harmony with this great power. My mother taught me to seek all truth in the Bible."

  • Scientists today think deeply instead of clearly. A man must be sane to think clearly, but it's possible to think deeply and be rather crazy."

  • Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander from one equation to the next, in order to end up with a structure that has no correspondence with reality."

  • The progress of civilization seems like fire, first the spark, then the flame and finally an explosion of fire increasing its speed and power."

  • Whatever we try to do in any area we must submit it to our efforts, because we depend on the force."

  • Our virtues and our failures are inseparable, just like energy and matter. When they separate, the man is not there any more."

  • The universal peace as a result of cumulative efforts through the centuries can come into being quickly - not like crystal which at once forms a solution that has been slowly in preparation."

  • A scientist is not aiming toward sudden results. He does not expect his advanced ideas to be readily accepted."

  • Science is a personal perversion except if its end goal is the betterment of mankind."

  • Even matter which is called inorganic, deemed dead, responds to the disbelievers and gives irrefutable proof of the living principle within itself. Everything that exists, organic or inorganic, living and non-living is sensitive to outside stimuli."

  • I see it as my duty, as a son of his country, to help the City of Zagreb in every way by advice and deed" (24 May 1892 about the idea of constructing the alternating current power plant in Croatia)

  • If I will have the luck to realize at least some of my ideas, it will be a benefaction for the whole mankind. If these hopes of mine come true, the sweetest thought will be that it is the work of a Serbian." (Nikola Tesla during his visit to Belgrade in 1892)

  • On that day when science begins to study non-physical (spiritual) phenomena, it will advance in a decade more than in the early centuries of its history."

  • Man must exercise temperance and control of his senses and leanings in every way, thus keeping himself young in body and mind."

  • Restraint has not always been according to my taste, but my pleasurable experiences are a huge reward."

  • I would give a thousand secrets of nature upon which I stumbled by accident, in exchange for this one which I extracted from nature, in spite of all the miracles and dangers which I faced."
  • If you don't know how, observe the phenomena of nature, they will give you clear answers and inspiration."

  • Insufficient observation is only a form of unknowing, a cause of many perverse incidents and a triumph of crazy ideas."

  • I was amazed at this man, who, without thorough education or scientific experience did so much." (about Thomas Alva Edison)

  • I learned a dozen languages, studied literature and arts, spent my best years in libraries reading everything that came my way, and though I sometimes felt I was losing time, I quickly realized it was the best thing I ever did."

  • Very probably my career would have ended ahead of its time if Providence did not provide me with a defence mechanism which got stronger year by year and which unerringly activated itself whenever my forces were at their end."

  • If I try to continue a broken line of thought, I feel a veritable spiritual nausea, then, almost by chance, I go over to another job, surprised by the freshness of mind and ease with which I overcome obstacles which had tormented me before. And as a rule I find answers to difficult questions with the least possible effort."

  • We must all have some ideal which will govern our behaviour and satisfy us, but it is not material. It can be religion, art, science, whatever, it is only important that it acts as a non-material force."

  • Money does not represent such a value as man has placed in it. All my money I invested in inventions which enabled new inventions enabling an easier life for humanity."

  • An individual is transitory, races and peoples will come and go, but man remains. This is wherein lies a deep difference between an individual and a whole."

  • There are three possible solutions to the problem of increase of human energy: nutrition, peace, work."

  • To conquer the steep force becomes more and more difficult every day. Defense is a continuous obtaining the advantages of attack, as if we make progress in the sotonic science of destruction."

  • As long as there are different nationalities, there will be patriotism. That feeling has to be rooted out from our hearts before the permanent peace is established. It should be replaced by love towards nature and scientific ideal. Science and inventions are strong forces which will lead to its termination."

  • Conflicts between individuals, as well as the government and the people, are the result of misunderstanding in the broadest sense of this term. Misunderstandings are always caused by the lack of capacity to respect mutual opinion."

  • The danger of conflict increases dangerously because of a more or less dominant feeling of belligerency which is present in every human being. The best way to oppose this tendency is to dispel the ignorance by a systematic spreading of general knowledge. Bearing this in mind the most important is help through an exchange of opinions and relations."

  • Mutual understanding will be infinitely easier by the use of one universal language."

  • Our senses enable us to perceive only minute parts of the outer world. Our debate takes place at a small distance. Our sight is obstructed by a wall and a shadow. In order to get to know one another we must circumvent the sphere of our feeling of perception. We must transfer our intelligence, travel, transport of material and transfer of energy needed for our existence."

  • Irrespective of what the future shall bring, the universal application of these grand principles is completely in place, although their arrival seems long in coming." (Inventions in the future) 

  • Practical transfer of energy without wires has an extraordinary importance for man. 

  • In such a way everything that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, pushed aside, suppressed - only to come out greater, more victorious from this fight."

  • Every effort under duress requires the sacrifice of life energy. I have never paid that price. On the contrary, I let my thoughts flourish."

  • They say that I am one of the most persistent workers, maybe I am, if thought is equivalent to work, because I dedicated to it nearly all my time. But if work is interpreted as a finite activity in a finite time by specially determined rules, than maybe I am the worst sloth."

  • Our first strivings are exclusively the instinctive stimulus of lively imagination and non-discipline."

  • As we grow older, the reason strengthens and we become even more systematic and creative. But these first impulses, unproductive at first sight, are the greatest moments that can strongly shape our destinies."

  • The issue of great importance shall be to know: what is the capacity of Earth? And what is the charge if it is electrified?"

  • As long as there are different nationalities, there will be patriotism. That feeling has to be rooted out from our hearts before the permanent peace is established. It should be replaced by love towards nature and scientific ideal.

  • Science and inventions are strong forces which will lead to its termination."
 
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