Alexander Graham Bell

"Service to humanity is the best work of life."

"The great scientists are never satisfied with the boundaries of their knowledge."

"Behind every stroke of luck or inspiration is often a long period of hard work."

"The inventor looks upon the world and is not contented with things as they are. He wants to know why things are as they are and how they may be made better."

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first."

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

"When one door closes another opens; but we so often look with regret upon the closed door that we do not see the ones open for us."

"The true inventor does not await the call of the world before he sets to work."

"Leave the beaten path occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do you will be sure to find something that you have never seen before."

"Prepare mind and body as you would prepare the soil before planting a garden."

"The most successful people are those who can see three steps ahead."

"Life is too short to spend it being angry at people."

"Believe in yourself and others will too."

"The day may not come when the human voice will travel entirely through a copper wire, but I do not doubt that the day will come when it shall."

"What this world needs is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left."

"When the bright sun strikes the water, the light is reflected in a thousand directions; so when great truths are proclaimed, they are reflected from mind to mind in endlessly varied forms."

"The inventor's principal function is to perceive the wants of the age and to direct the forces of nature to supply them."

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

"You cannot imagine what the telephone will eventually accomplish."

"The world is now awake and moving. Nothing can stop the march of invention and discovery."

"Concentrate your efforts on a single work. Do not scatter your thoughts."

"We must have infinite faith in the power of truth and righteousness."

"The great inventions have come from men who worked with their hands as well as their minds."

"When you're stuck, look at the problem from a different angle."

"The only really happy people are children and the very old. Those in between are too anxious about what comes next."

"An inventor fails 999 times and if he succeeds once he's in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots."

"The achievement of one goal should mark the starting point of another."

"The true scientist will always be patient and humble before nature."

"Be always like a student, never like a master. The moment you think you know it all, you stop learning."

"Every time we fail, we learn something new. Failure is not the opposite of success; it is a stepping stone to success."