--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am more of a sponge than an inventor. I…" description: "\"I am more of a sponge than an inventor. I absorb ideas from every source. I take half-matured schemes for mechanical development and make them practica..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/thomas-a-edison-866_all-things_i-am-more-of-a-sponge-than-an-inventor-i_457429.jpg" --- # I am more of a sponge than an inventor. I absorb ideas… ![“I am more of a sponge than an inventor. I absorb ideas from every source. I take half-matured schemes for mechanical development and make them practical. I am a sort of a middleman between the long-haired and impractical inventor and the hard-headed business man who measures all things in terms of…” quote by Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/thomas-a-edison-866_all-things_i-am-more-of-a-sponge-than-an-inventor-i_457429.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/thomas-a-edison-866_all-things_i-am-more-of-a-sponge-than-an-inventor-i_457429.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/thomas-a-edison-866_all-things_i-am-more-of-a-sponge-than-an-inventor-i_457429.jpg) > “I am more of a sponge than an inventor. I absorb ideas from every source. I take half-matured schemes for mechanical development and make them practical. I am a sort of a middleman between the long-haired and impractical inventor and the hard-headed business man who measures all things in terms of dollars and cents. My principal business is giving commercial value to the brilliant but misdirected ideas of others.” [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. He describes his role as a conduit, turning others' raw ideas into marketable products. **In simple terms:** He turns others' ideas into practical things. Key Takeaway Bridge vision and business. Themes innovation collaboration commercialization Mood analytical pragmatic Type business inspirational When to use this quote - startup development - product design - R&D management Key Concepts idea transfer value creation Questions to Reflect On - How do you decide which ideas to develop? - What value do you add to others' concepts? A Different Perspective Not all ideas are worth commercializing; discernment needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [All things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-things/) [Brilliant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brilliant/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Business man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business-man/) [Cents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cents/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Dollars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dollars/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Impractical Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impractical-inventor-3979789/) [Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor/) [Inventor Absorb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor-absorb-3979790/) [Inventor Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventor-hard-3979788/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Matured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matured/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Middlemen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middlemen/) [Practicals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practicals/) [Principal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principal/) [Schemes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schemes/) [Source](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/source/) [Sponge Inventor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sponge-inventor-1807010/) [Sponges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sponges/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [I am not overly impressed by the great names and reputations of those who might be trying to beat me to an invention. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-am-not-overly-impressed-by-the-great-names-and-reputations-of-those/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [I am quite correctly described as 'more of a sponge than an inventor…'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/i-am-quite-correctly-described-as-more-of-a-sponge-than-an-inventor/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [President Trump has exposed the dirty secret of drug pricing: There is a shadowy third player in the transaction between patients and their pharmacists:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-azar/president-trump-has-exposed-the-dirty-secret-of-drug-pricing-there-is/) [Alex Azar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-azar/) > [Writers feel like a middleman, standing with pen in hand over the page. A force greater than me stands above telling me what to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-simon/writers-feel-like-a-middleman-standing-with-pen-in-hand-over-the-page/) [Neil Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-simon/) > [THE TEACHER AS A NECESSARY EVIL. Let us have as few people as possible between the productive minds and the hungry and recipient minds!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-teacher-as-a-necessary-evil-let-us-have-as-few-people-as-possible/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The media is the great middleman. Trump doesn't need a middleman to get his message out. Trump's crowds are five blocks long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-media-is-the-great-middleman-trump-doesn-t-need-a-middleman-to/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential; otherwise you’re just a middleman. “ “Don’t try to be the ‘next’. Instead,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/developing-expertise-or-assets-that-are-not-easily-copied-is-2/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [I...am an evolved being who deals solely with the source of light...in all of us in our own minds. No middleman required.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-am-an-evolved-being-who-deals-solely-with-the-source-of-light-in/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [I think that social media is a really good way to stay in touch with the people who are following you, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-styrke/i-think-that-social-media-is-a-really-good-way-to-stay-in-touch-with/) [Tove Styrke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-styrke/) > [The key is to cut out the middleman and empower both doctor and patient with information about what things cost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/the-key-is-to-cut-out-the-middleman-and-empower-both-doctor-and/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [Government can only do two things: It can beat people up and kill them. Or it can threaten to do so. When it seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/government-can-only-do-two-things-it-can-beat-people-up-and-kill-them/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [It is well-known what a middleman is: he is a man who bamboozles one party and plunders the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/it-is-well-known-what-a-middleman-is-he-is-a-man-who-bamboozles-one/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [I like to think of myself as the middleman between Fred Allen and Henny Youngman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-berle/i-like-to-think-of-myself-as-the-middleman-between-fred-allen-and/) [Milton Berle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-berle/) > [The public needs art, and it is the responsibility of a ’self-proclaimed artist’ to realize the public needs art, and not to make bourgeois…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-haring/the-public-needs-art-and-it-is-the-responsibility-of-a-self/) [Keith Haring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-haring/) > [Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential; otherwise you're just a middleman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/developing-expertise-or-assets-that-are-not-easily-copied-is/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) ## 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 All things quotes > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [To explicate the uses of the Brain seems as difficult a task as to paint the Soul, of which it is commonly said, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-willis/to-explicate-the-uses-of-the-brain-seems-as-difficult-a-task-as-to/) [Thomas Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-willis/) > [A tree is a self: it is 'unseen shaping' more than it is leaves or bark, roots or cellulose or fruit ... What this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-swimme/a-tree-is-a-self-it-is-unseen-shaping-more-than-it-is-leaves-or-bark/) [Brian Swimme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-swimme/) > [Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/dear-god-i-trust-that-no-matter-what-happens-in-my-life-it-is-for-my/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Moderation, honey, in all things but love and chocolate. That's my motto.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-bretton/moderation-honey-in-all-things-but-love-and-chocolate-that-s-my-motto/) [Barbara Bretton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-bretton/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-rabelais/time-which-wears-down-and-diminishes-all-things-augments-and/) [Francois Rabelais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-rabelais/) > [Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-d-nadauld/standing-as-a-witness-in-all-things-means-being-kind-in-all-things/) [Margaret D. 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The universal Cause, by knowing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-dionysius/god-does-not-possess-a-private-knowledge-of-himself-and-a-separate/) [Pope Dionysius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-dionysius/) [Browse all 2,486 All things quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/all-things/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am more of a sponge than an inventor. I absorb ideas from every source. I take half-matured schemes for mechanical development and make them practical. I am a sort of a middleman between the long-haired and impractical inventor and the hard-headed business man who measures all things in terms of dollars and cents. My principal business is giving commercial value to the brilliant but misdirected ideas of others.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas A. 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