This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of read more

This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. -- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction. -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.

Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction. -- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872.

Death is a law and not a punishment. Three things ought to console us for giving up life; the friends read more

Death is a law and not a punishment. Three things ought to console us for giving up life; the friends whom we have lost, the few persons worth of being loved whom we leave behind us, and finally the memory of our stupidities and the assurance that they are now going to stop.

If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said read more

If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this. -- Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M Post-It Notepads.

I must go in, the fog is rising.

I must go in, the fog is rising.

I must end it. There's no hope left. I'll be at peace. No one had anything to do with this. read more

I must end it. There's no hope left. I'll be at peace. No one had anything to do with this. My decision totally.

The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular? read more

The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular? -- David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

The future is just old age and illness and pain.... I must have peace and this is the only way.

The future is just old age and illness and pain.... I must have peace and this is the only way.