Nikola Tesla

"The moment we desire to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it and become blind to the arguments against it."

"New York, I believe, is destined to become the center of civilization and progress."

"Most of the money I have made I have thrown back into the work."

"I record here in a plain and dispassionate statement the most important scientific discovery ever made."

"One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."

"The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine."

"Universal peace can be realized only when you give up relying on destructive means."

"If I were to speak of my principal discovery, I would be speaking of the means of harnessing the cosmic energy of the sun."

"The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know."

"I am equally proud of my American citizenship and my Serbian origin."

"My first wish is to see this great, peaceful warrior enter into his power as soon as possible."

"Instinct is something which transcends knowledge."

"The human being is a self-propelled automaton entirely under the control of external influences."

"I believe that the present system must eventually be abandoned for a better."

"Every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of spiritual power and therefore inimical to the highest prospering of human being."

"The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we may ask for help, and the help will come."

"Great moments are born of great opportunity."

"I have not failed; I have merely discovered another way that does not work."

"What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth."

"In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

"The spread of civilization may be likened to a fire; first, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze."

"All scientific men have acquired considerable philosophical culture; some, indeed, have become almost philosophers."

"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to prevent one from being lynched."

"Nature has endowed woman with the same mental capacities as man."

"I warn you against the pitfalls of the orthodox scientific belief."

"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter— for the future."

"If your hate could be turned into electricity, it would light up the whole world."

"The results of any great scientific discovery cannot be predicted."

"Every form of inspiration is strictly a reduction of mind."

"That a man can change himself, improve himself, he must become the nearest thing to a creation; he must imitate nature."