This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Genius and Edison
Jun
14
2016
I was reading a Frazz collection and one of the story lines had to do with the famous quote from Thomas Alva Edison :
Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me. It bothered me because it is wrong.
By wrong I don’t mean misquoted. By wrong I mean Edison was mistaken when he said it.
Here is my recommendation for improving the quote :
Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
Really, think about it – genius can be apparent without effort. And I think Edison was thinking about success when he said it. He probably saw success and genius as one and the same, because he was successful.
I’m not convinced he was a genius though. I’d apply that label to Nikola Tesla. He was a genius, but he was not successful. At least not as successful in the business world as Edison was.
Another vote against Edison’s being a genius is that he spoke about genius-ness. To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, if you have to tell people you’re a genius, then you’re not.
By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 11:03 pm and has been carefully placed in the Ponder category.
