--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Inventions that are not made, like babies…" description: "\"Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed.\" — John Kenneth Galbraith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_baby_inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies_221142.png" --- # Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not… ![“Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed.” quote by John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_baby_inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies_221142.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_baby_inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies_221142.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/john-kenneth-galbraith-643_baby_inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies_221142.png) > “Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed.” [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unrealized inventions, like unborn babies, are often overlooked, highlighting human tendency to ignore what never materializes. **In simple terms:** We often forget about things that never happen. Key Takeaway Value ideas even before they become tangible. Themes innovation potential neglect creativity Mood thoughtful inspirational Type business philosophical When to use this quote - product development - research funding - creative brainstorming Key Concepts latent ideas risk aversion future planning Questions to Reflect On - What ideas have you let slip away? - How can you nurture nascent projects? A Different Perspective The analogy may undervalue the emotional impact of loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) [Invention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invention/) [Inventions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventions/) ## Related quotes > [Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are not missed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies-that-are-not-born-are-not/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed. In the absence of new developments, old ones may seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies-that-are-not-born-are-rarely/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [And many such good inventions are there, that they are like woman's breasts: useful at the same time, and pleasant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/and-many-such-good-inventions-are-there-that-they-are-like-woman-s/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [For there's nothing we read of in torture's inventions, Like a well-meaning dunce, with the best of intentions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/for-there-s-nothing-we-read-of-in-torture-s-inventions-like-a-well/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-never-did-anything-worth-doing-by-accident-nor-did-any-of-my/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Every year the inventions of science weave more inextricably the web that binds man to man, group to group, nation to nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-emerson-fosdick/every-year-the-inventions-of-science-weave-more-inextricably-the-web/) [Harry Emerson Fosdick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-emerson-fosdick/) > [“Getting fired from work gives you the zeal to make your own inventions”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/getting-fired-from-work-gives-you-the-zeal-to-make-your-own-inventions/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [The main ingredient of the first quantum revolution, wave-particle duality, has led to inventions such as the transistor and the laser that are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-aspect/the-main-ingredient-of-the-first-quantum-revolution-wave-particle/) Alain Aspect > [The most amazing and effective inventions are not those which do most honour to the human genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-most-amazing-and-effective-inventions-are-not-those-which-do-most/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [None of my inventions came by accident. I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial until it comes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/none-of-my-inventions-came-by-accident-i-see-a-worthwhile-need-to-be/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [It is frivolous to fix pedantically the date of particular inventions. They have all been invented over and over fifty times. Man is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-frivolous-to-fix-pedantically-the-date-of-particular-inventions/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In some cases, inventions prohibit innovation because we're so caught up in playing with the technology, we forget about the fact that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-kamen/in-some-cases-inventions-prohibit-innovation-because-we-re-so-caught/) [Dean Kamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-kamen/) > [The inventions and the great discoveries have opened up whole continents to reciprocal communication and interchange, provided we are willing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alva-myrdal/the-inventions-and-the-great-discoveries-have-opened-up-whole/) [Alva Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alva-myrdal/) > [I think the most beautiful inventions are the ones you don't think of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-arbus/i-think-the-most-beautiful-inventions-are-the-ones-you-don-t-think-of/) [Diane Arbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-arbus/) > [As we benefit from the inventions of others, we should be glad to share our own ... freely and gladly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/as-we-benefit-from-the-inventions-of-others-we-should-be-glad-to/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) ## More by John Kenneth Galbraith > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Technology means the systematic application of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/technology-means-the-systematic-application-of-scientific-or-other/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“Men can labor to make sense out of single steps toward the goal without ever pausing to reflect that the goal itself is ludicrous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/men-can-labor-to-make-sense-out-of-single-steps-toward-the-goal/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [That one never need to look beyond the love of money for explanation of human behavior is one of the most jealously guarded simplification…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/that-one-never-need-to-look-beyond-the-love-of-money-for-explanation/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Agriculture is one economic activity that does not obey the laws of demand and supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/agriculture-is-one-economic-activity-that-does-not-obey-the-laws-of/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [If we were not in Vietnam, all that part of the world would be enjoying the obscurity it so richly deserves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/if-we-were-not-in-vietnam-all-that-part-of-the-world-would-be/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Washington is a place where men praise courage and act on elaborate personal cost-benefit calculations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/washington-is-a-place-where-men-praise-courage-and-act-on-elaborate/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [World War II revealed two of the enduring features of the Keynesian Revolution. 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One has now come to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/money-is-what-fueled-the-industrial-society-but-in-the-informational/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [While it will be desirable to achieve planned results, it will be even more important to avoid unplanned disasters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/while-it-will-be-desirable-to-achieve-planned-results-it-will-be-even/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [A bad book is the worse that it cannot repent. It has not been the devil's policy to keep the masses of mankind in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/a-bad-book-is-the-worse-that-it-cannot-repent-it-has-not-been-the/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Genius is a rising stock market.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/genius-is-a-rising-stock-market/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Mr. David Stockman has said that supply-side economics was merely a cover for the trickle-down approach to economic policy—what an older and less elegant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/mr-david-stockman-has-said-that-supply-side-economics-was-merely-a/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Inventions that are not made, like babies that are not born, are rarely missed. In the absence of new developments, old ones may seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/inventions-that-are-not-made-like-babies-that-are-not-born-are-rarely/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) [Explore all 434 John Kenneth Galbraith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) ## More Baby quotes > [I would have done well as a gypsy child, I think. A circus baby. I coulda played a great street urchin or ragamuffin. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-lyonne/i-would-have-done-well-as-a-gypsy-child-i-think-a-circus-baby-i/) [Natasha Lyonne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-lyonne/) > [“I looked down into my baby’s beautiful green eyes and ached inside. She looked up at me with wide-eyed innocence. 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