--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva…" description: "\"“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately how m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/isabel-paterson-11023_digging-ditches_if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-ed_412227.jpg" --- # If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry… ![“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately how much energy or work could have been got out of them. Left to their own devices, as they were, it is impossible to say how much energy they actually…” quote by Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/isabel-paterson-11023_digging-ditches_if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-ed_412227.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/isabel-paterson-11023_digging-ditches_if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-ed_412227.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/isabel-paterson-11023_digging-ditches_if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-ed_412227.jpg) > ““If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately how much energy or work could have been got out of them. Left to their own devices, as they were, it is impossible to say how much energy they actually released into production.”” [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great innovators' potential is hard to measure when they work freely, but forced labor would reveal their true productive capacity. **In simple terms:** Potential is hard to gauge without constraints. Key Takeaway Consider how constraints shape output. Themes innovation potential productivity Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - workplace - research labs - entrepreneurship - education - policy making Key Concepts human capital efficiency creative freedom Questions to Reflect On - What limits do constraints impose on creativity? - Can productivity be measured without considering motivation? A Different Perspective Assumes forced labor is comparable to creative work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Digging ditches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digging-ditches/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) ## Related quotes > [People often say I have so much energy, that I never stop; but that's what it takes to accomplish your goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/people-often-say-i-have-so-much-energy-that-i-never-stop-but-that-s/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [I think we can say our energy system will be the most efficient and environmentally friendly in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/i-think-we-can-say-our-energy-system-will-be-the-most-efficient-and/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [I can say, 'Well, I'm a male. I'm a male human. I'm a medical doctor. I'm an author...' 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JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [R&D generally has been a bipartisan thing, because in the IT space, in the medical space, the U.S., the benefits to ourselves and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/r-d-generally-has-been-a-bipartisan-thing-because-in-the-it-space-in/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Organisms sip energy, because they have to work or barter for every single bit that they get.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/organisms-sip-energy-because-they-have-to-work-or-barter-for-every/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [What if we could make energy do our work without working our undoing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amory-lovins/what-if-we-could-make-energy-do-our-work-without-working-our-undoing/) [Amory Lovins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amory-lovins/) > [It takes a lot of energy to work, in general, especially if you're the lead in something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-ford/it-takes-a-lot-of-energy-to-work-in-general-especially-if-you-re-the/) [Faith Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-ford/) > [We only have so much energy for our work, for our relationships, for ourselves. 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It makes every day extraordinary and transforms the mundane to the holy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvia-hartmann/energy-work-is-priceless-it-makes-every-day-extraordinary-and/) [Silvia Hartmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvia-hartmann/) ## More by Isabel Paterson > [“Newton was asked as a mathematician, not as a moralist. He replied 'Gentlemen, in applied mathematics, you must describe your unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/newton-was-asked-as-a-mathematician-not-as-a-moralist-he-replied/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [But when the good people do know, as they certainly do, that three million persons (at the least estimate) were starved to death in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-when-the-good-people-do-know-as-they-certainly-do-that-three/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“But in a free enterprise economy, increased production increases the number of jobs. It might be said that one job creates another, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-in-a-free-enterprise-economy-increased-production-increases-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine of state supremacy sooner or later. . . . Once that doctrine has been accepted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/every-politically-controlled-educational-system-will-inculcate-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-americans-should-now-turn-back-submit-again-to-slavery-it-would-be/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“The intrinsic nature of the power authorized was so little realized that this was called "free education," the most absolute contradiction of facts by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-intrinsic-nature-of-the-power-authorized-was-so-little-realized/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Right now it is a terrible thing to be a rugged individualist; but we don't know what else to be except a feeble nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/right-now-it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-rugged-individualist-but-we/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“Why did the humanitarian philosophy of eighteenth century Europe usher in the Reign of Terror? 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It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by-2/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The craving for power is in itself a sign of inferior abilities and unfitness for responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-craving-for-power-is-in-itself-a-sign-of-inferior-abilities-and/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-on-all-fours-might-be-safer/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The humanitarian in theory is the terrorist in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-humanitarian-in-theory-is-the-terrorist-in-action/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) [Explore all 62 Isabel Paterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## More Digging ditches quotes > [The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. 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Had I not been able to achieve what I did, I guarantee you... my high school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/everything-i-ve-done-goes-back-to-pro-wrestling-had-i-not-been-able/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [Remember that you can pray any time, anywhere. Washing dishes, digging ditches, working in the office, in the shop, on the athletic field, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/remember-that-you-can-pray-any-time-anywhere-washing-dishes-digging/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I'd advise all you songwriters out there, if you're getting into it for the business, go home and get a job digging ditches or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-hancock/i-d-advise-all-you-songwriters-out-there-if-you-re-getting-into-it/) [Butch Hancock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-hancock/) > [“You are following Jesus and shaping our world in the power of the Spirit. And when the final consummation comes, the work that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/you-are-following-jesus-and-shaping-our-world-in-the-power-of-the/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [My father started on this golf course at Latrobe when he was sixteen years old. 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It's a long day, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-holt/at-the-end-of-the-day-i-m-reading-the-news-i-m-not-digging-ditches-i/) [Lester Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-holt/) [Browse all 14 Digging ditches quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digging-ditches/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately how much energy or work could have been got out of them. 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