Skip to content

Common man Quote by H.G. Wells

“How often things must have been seen and dismissed as unimportant, before the speculative eye and the moment of vision came! It was Gilbert, Queen Elizabeth's court physician, who first puzzled his brains with rubbed amber and bits of glass and silk and shellac, and so began the quickening of the…” quote by H.G. Wells
Download Open image
““How often things must have been seen and dismissed as unimportant, before the speculative eye and the moment of vision came! It was Gilbert, Queen Elizabeth's court physician, who first puzzled his brains with rubbed amber and bits of glass and silk and shellac, and so began the quickening of the human mind to the existence of this universal presence. And even then the science of electricity remained a mere little group of curious facts for nearly two hundred years, connected perhaps with magnetism—a mere guess that—perhaps with the lightning. Frogs' legs must have hung by copper hooks from iron railings and twitched upon countless occasions before Galvani saw them. Except for the lightning conductor, it was 250 years after Gilbert before electricity stepped out of the cabinet of scientific curiosities into the life of the common man… . Then suddenly, in the half-century between 1880 and 1930, it ousted the steam-engine and took over traction, it ousted every other form of household heating, abolished distance with the perfected wireless telephone and the telephotograph… .””

H.G. Wells

About This Quote

Source Speech: The Future of Technology, H.G. Wells, 1900

Scientific progress often begins as curiosity, later becoming transformative technology that reshapes society.

In simple terms: Ideas start small, become world‑changing.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and nurture early curiosities.

Themes

innovation progress technology history science

Mood

inspired reflective

Type

historical philosophical

When to use this quote

  • education
  • research labs
  • inventors
  • policy makers
  • entrepreneurs

Key Concepts

electromagnetism industrial revolution communication energy

Questions to Reflect On

  • What overlooked ideas could become tomorrow's breakthroughs?
  • How can we better support speculative research?
A Different Perspective

Early ideas may be dismissed, delaying breakthroughs.

2.2 out of 5 (5 ratings)

More by H.G. Wells

Explore all 246 H.G. Wells quotes

More Common man quotes

Browse all 367 Common man quotes