Sayings about Inventions
One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow. ~ American Proverbs
Necessity is the mother of invention. ~ English Proverbs
Haste is the invention of the devil. ~ Arabian Proverbs
A poor joke must invent its own laughter. ~ Latin Proverbs
Fear is a great inventor. ~ French Proverbs
Man is greater than the tools he invents. ~ United States Proverb
What you don’t see with your eyes, don’t invent with your mouth. ~ Yiddish Proverbs
Partnership is an invention of the devil. ~ Russian Proverbs
The Italian invents it; the Frenchman makes it; the Germans sell it; the Pole buys it and the Tartar plunders it. ~ Polish Proverbs
Quotations about Inventions
Invention is totally independent of the will. ~ Benjamin Robert Haydon
Where we cannot invent, we may at least improve. ~ Charles Caleb Colton
Accident is the name of the greatest of all inventors. ~ Mark Twain
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. ~ Thomas A. Edison
From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it. ~ Katharine Whitehorn
By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote. In fact, it is as difficult to appropriate the thoughts of others as it is to invent. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Want, the mistress of invention. ~ Mrs. Susannah Centlivre
Destiny is the invention of the cowardly, and the resigned. ~ Ignazio Silone
Take the advice of a faithful friend, and submit thy inventions to his censure. ~ Thomas Fuller
We invent what we love, and what we fear. ~ John Irving
The continuous invention of new ways of observing is man’s special secret of living. ~ J. Z. Young
I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work. ~ Thomas A. Edison
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. ~ Voltaire
Women’s virtue is man’s greatest invention. ~ Cornelia Otis Skinner
If life doesn’t offer a game worth playing, then invent a new one. ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo
Boredom, like necessity, is very often the mother of invention. ~ Author Unknown
Necessity, mother of invention. ~ William Wycherley
The greatest inventions were produced in the times of ignorance, as the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing. ~ Jonathan Swift
Invention strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory; nothing can come from nothing. ~ Sir Joshua Reynolds
Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success. ~ Thomas A. Edison
A truth that’s told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent. ~ William Blake
God forgives those who invent what they need. ~ Ayn Rand
We can invent only with memory. ~ Alphonse Karr
Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity — gunpowder and romantic love. ~ Andre Maurois
Painting does not come from intelligence so much, as from sight and feeling and invention. ~ Author Unknown
In a revolution, as in a novel. The most difficult part to invent is the end. ~ Alexis De Tocqueville
Invention is the mother of necessity. ~ Thorstein Veblen
Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life. ~ Joseph Conrad
Dictators never invent their own opportunities. ~ R. Buckminster Fuller
We invent the world through language. The world occurs through language. ~ Mal Pancoast
If one cannot invent a really convincing lie, it is often better to stick to the truth. ~ Angela Thirkell
Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
I invent nothing, I rediscover. ~ Auguste Rodin
Conflict is resolved not through compromise, but through invention. ~ Mary Parker Follett
Everything that can be invented has been invented. ~ Charles H. Duell
Invention is activity of mind, as fire is air in motion; a sharpening of the spiritual sight, to discern hidden aptitudes. ~ Martin Farquhar Tupper
We must use what we have to invent what we desire. ~ Adrienne Rich
This is the patent age of new inventions for killing bodies, and for saving souls. All propagated with the best intentions. ~ Lord Byron
America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense… human rights invented America. ~ Jimmy Carter
Interest is the spur of the people, but glory that of great souls. Invention is the talent of youth, and judgment of age. ~ Jonathan Swift
Invention, strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory; nothing can come of nothing. ~ Sir Joshua Reynolds
Getting caught is the mother of invention. ~ Robert Byrne
The introduction of noble inventions seems to hold by far the most excellent place among human actions. ~ Francis Bacon
Man is the inventor of stupidity. ~ Remy De Gourmont
If honesty did not exist, we ought to invent it as the best means of getting rich. ~ Gabriel Riqueti Mirabeau
Man is a shrewd inventor, and is ever taking the hint of a new machine from his own structure, adapting some secret of his own anatomy in iron, wood, and leather, to some required function in the work of the world. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Imagination does not enable us to invent as many different contradictions as there are by nature in every heart. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld
It is not true, it is a happy invention. ~ Giordano Bruno
The right of an inventor to his invention is no monopoly; in any other sense than a man’s house is a monopoly. ~ Daniel Webster
Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse. ~ Ronald Reagan
A tool is but the extension of a man’s hand, and a machine is but a complex tool. And he that invents a machine augments the power of a man and the well-being of mankind. ~ Henry Ward Beecher
Young people are fitter to invent than to judge; fitter for execution than for counsel; and more fit for new projects than for settled business. ~ Francis Bacon
It is only the unimaginative who ever invents. The true artist is known by the use he makes of what he annexes. ~ Oscar Wilde
Doubt is the father of invention. ~ Galileo Galilei
Our inventions mirror our secret wishes. ~ Lawrence George Durrell
Today every invention is received with a cry of triumph which soon turns into a cry of fear. ~ Bertolt Brecht
The cocktail party is easily the worst invention since castor oil. ~ Elsa Maxwell
I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill. ~ Thomas A. Edison
Where a new invention promises to be useful, it ought to be tried. ~ Thomas Jefferson
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it. ~ Harry Emerson Fosdick
If necessity is the mother of invention, discontent is the father of progress. ~ David Rockefeller
Necessity, who is the mother of our invention. ~ Plato
The march of invention has clothed mankind with powers of which a century ago the boldest imagination could not have dreamt. ~ Henry George
Invention is not so much the result of labor as of judgment. ~ Wentworth Dillon
What some people invent the rest enlarge. ~ Jonathan Swift
Put two things together which have never been put together before, and some schmuck will buy it. ~ George Carlin
Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and of all achievement. ~ Claude M. Bristol
A moment’s insight is sometimes worth a life’s experience. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
To make an apple pie from scratch, we must first invent the universe. ~ Carl Sagan
100 Greatest Science Inventions of All Time. ~ Book Preview
