--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Genius is one percent inspiration and…" description: "\"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.\" — Thomas A. Edison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/thomas-a-edison-866_genius_genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-ni_946818.jpg" --- # Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent… ![“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” quote by Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/thomas-a-edison-866_genius_genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-ni_946818.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/thomas-a-edison-866_genius_genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-ni_946818.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/72a/thomas-a-edison-866_genius_genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-ni_946818.jpg) > “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great achievements stem from a small spark of ideas combined with relentless hard work. **In simple terms:** Ideas need hard work to become reality. Key Takeaway Pair inspiration with disciplined effort. Themes creativity hard work achievement perseverance Mood motivational practical Type inspirational advice When to use this quote - research labs - artistic projects - entrepreneurial ventures - personal goals Key Concepts innovation effort process Questions to Reflect On - What daily habits can you adopt to turn ideas into results? - How do you balance creativity with execution? A Different Perspective Talent alone is insufficient without sustained labor. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) [Genius Percent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius-percent-696381/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Inspiration Ninety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration-ninety-1659527/) [Intelligence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligence/) [Ninety percent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ninety-percent/) [Percent Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent-inspiration-610826/) ## Related quotes > [“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-ninety-nine-percent-perspiration/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [“If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/if-genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-ninety-nine-percent/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/genius-is-1-percent-inspiration-99-percent-perspiration/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Persistence isn't very glamorous. If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/persistence-isn-t-very-glamorous-if-genius-is-one-percent-inspiration/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“For too long, the creative world has focused on idea generation at the expense of idea execution. As the legendary inventor Thomas Edison famously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-k-glei/for-too-long-the-creative-world-has-focused-on-idea-generation-at-the/) [Jocelyn K. Glei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-k-glei/) > [That adage about genius being 5 percent inspiration and 95 perspiration - it's true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanni/that-adage-about-genius-being-5-percent-inspiration-and-95/) [Yanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanni/) > [Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-alva-edison/genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-99-percent-perspiration/) [Thomas Alva Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-alva-edison/) > [“Genius is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent perspiration.” To make great ideas a reality, we must act, experiment, fail, adapt, and learn on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-k-glei/genius-is-1-percent-inspiration-and-99-percent-perspiration-to-make/) [Jocelyn K. Glei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-k-glei/) > [“ There's a poster with Thomas Edison's quote: GENIUS IS 1 PERCENT INSPIRATION AND 99 PERCENT PERSPIRATION.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/there-s-a-poster-with-thomas-edison-s-quote-genius-is-1-percent/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [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/) > [Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. As a result, a genius is often a talented person who has simply done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/genius-is-one-percent-inspiration-and-ninety-nine-percent/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-edison/genius-is-one-per-cent-inspiration-ninety-nine-per-cent-perspiration/) [Thomas Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-edison/) > [Fifty percent of Winston is genius, fifty percent bloody fool. He will behave like a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-attlee/fifty-percent-of-winston-is-genius-fifty-percent-bloody-fool-he-will/) [Clement Attlee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-attlee/) > [The secret to a masterpiece is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/the-secret-to-a-masterpiece-is-10-percent-inspiration-and-90-percent/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [People often say that writing is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration. This is nonsense, of course. It's pretty much one hundred percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caprice-crane/people-often-say-that-writing-is-ten-percent-inspiration-and-ninety/) [Caprice Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caprice-crane/) ## More by Thomas A. Edison > [We are striking it big in the electric light, better than my vivid imagination first conceived. Where this thing is going to stop Lord…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/we-are-striking-it-big-in-the-electric-light-better-than-my-vivid/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [I will not say I failed 1000 times, I will say that I discovered there are 1000 ways that can cause failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-will-not-say-i-failed-1000-times-i-will-say-that-i-discovered-there/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Friendship is the heaven of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/friendship-is-the-heaven-of-life/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Even though I am nearly deaf, I seem to be gifted with a kind of inner hearing which enables me to detect sounds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/even-though-i-am-nearly-deaf-i-seem-to-be-gifted-with-a-kind-of-inner/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/being-busy-does-not-always-mean-real-work-the-object-of-all-work-is/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [The very first thing an executive must have is a fine memory. Of course it does not follow that a man with a fine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/the-very-first-thing-an-executive-must-have-is-a-fine-memory-of/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Personally, I enjoy working about 18 hours a day. Besides the short catnaps I take each day, I average about four to five hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/personally-i-enjoy-working-about-18-hours-a-day-besides-the-short/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [The brain can be developed just the same as the muscles can be developed, if on will only take the pains to train the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/the-brain-can-be-developed-just-the-same-as-the-muscles-can-be/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [“People who will not turn a shovel full of dirt on the project nor contribute a pound of material, will collect more money from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/people-who-will-not-turn-a-shovel-full-of-dirt-on-the-project-nor/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting I go ahead of it and make trial after trial until it comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/when-i-have-fully-decided-that-a-result-is-worth-getting-i-go-ahead/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [I remember that I was never able to get along at school. I was at the foot of the class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-remember-that-i-was-never-able-to-get-along-at-school-i-was-at-the/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Invention is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/invention-is-10-inspiration-and-90-perspiration/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [There seems to be no limit to which some men will go to avoid the labor of thinking. Thinking is hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/there-seems-to-be-no-limit-to-which-some-men-will-go-to-avoid-the/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Somewhere between the ages of eleven and fifteen, the average child begins to suffer from an atrophy, the paralysis of curiosity and the suspension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/somewhere-between-the-ages-of-eleven-and-fifteen-the-average-child/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [Not only will atomic power be released, but someday we will harness the rise and fall of the tides and imprison the rays of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/not-only-will-atomic-power-be-released-but-someday-we-will-harness/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) [Explore all 345 Thomas A. Edison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) ## More Genius quotes > [“If people fully understand you, they will think of you as a normal, if they half understand you, will think of you as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/if-people-fully-understand-you-they-will-think-of-you-as-a-normal-if/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Woman, in short, has an unconscious life, man a conscious life, and the genius the most conscious life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/woman-in-short-has-an-unconscious-life-man-a-conscious-life-and-the/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The truth is I've just never had any kind of plan at all for my career, which is probably not a very flattering thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ty-burrell/the-truth-is-i-ve-just-never-had-any-kind-of-plan-at-all-for-my/) [Ty Burrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ty-burrell/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [I have no physical genius about me. I can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, I can't do lay-ups - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-have-no-physical-genius-about-me-i-can-t-dribble-a-ball-and-run-at/) [Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/) > [I have known many chess players, but among them there has been only one genius - Capablanca!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-lasker/i-have-known-many-chess-players-but-among-them-there-has-been-only/) [Emanuel Lasker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-lasker/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The beginning of genius is being scared shitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/the-beginning-of-genius-is-being-scared-shitless/) [Louis-Ferdinand Celine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [Treason implies responsibility for something, control over something, influence upon something, knowledge of something. Treason in our time is a proof of genius. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/treason-implies-responsibility-for-something-control-over-something/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/mediocrity-knows-nothing-higher-than-itself-but-talent-instantly/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [With the proper training, I could've been an evil genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/with-the-proper-training-i-could-ve-been-an-evil-genius/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Never try to judge any one](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajat-dogra/never-try-to-judge-any-one/) [Rajat Dogra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajat-dogra/) > [“genius is a path that we can all take and derive much benefit, happiness, fulfillment, and success from...not a genetic windfall or divine gift.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-patrick/genius-is-a-path-that-we-can-all-take-and-derive-much-benefit/) [Sean Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-patrick/) [Browse all 5,125 Genius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genius/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas A. 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