Associates Quote by Thomas A. Edison
“After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure, expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something. For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldnt be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: 1910, "The Invention Process"
Failure is valuable; each setback reveals what doesn’t work, guiding future attempts.
In simple terms: Failure teaches what not to do.
Key Takeaway
Embrace failure as a learning tool.
Themes
perseverance
innovation
learning from failure
Mood
inspirational
practical
Type
motivational
educational
When to use this quote
- research labs
- product development
- entrepreneurship
Key Concepts
experimental method
problem solving
resilience
Questions to Reflect On
- What have you learned from a recent failure?
- How can you apply that lesson to future attempts?
A Different Perspective
May ignore emotional toll of repeated failures.
![“The young man [Turgot] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his studies, his reading, his professors, his associates, all were combined to keep from him any results of observation or reflection save those…” quote by Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5d4/andrew-dickson-white-24254_associates_the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecc_3146.jpg)
