We issued gorged with knowledge, and I spoke:
"Why, Sirs, they do all this as well as we."
read more

We issued gorged with knowledge, and I spoke:
"Why, Sirs, they do all this as well as we."
"They hunt old trails" said Cyril, "very well;
But when did woman ever yet invent?"

The golden hour of invention must terminate like other hours, and
when the man of genius returns to the read more

The golden hour of invention must terminate like other hours, and
when the man of genius returns to the cares, the duties, the
vexations, and the amusements of life, his companions behold him
as one of themselves--the creature of habits and infirmities.

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

Take the advice of a faithful friend, and submit thy inventions
to his censure.

Take the advice of a faithful friend, and submit thy inventions
to his censure.

Our inventions mirror our secret wishes.

Our inventions mirror our secret wishes.

It is not true, it is a happy invention.
[It., Se non e vere e ben trovato.]

It is not true, it is a happy invention.
[It., Se non e vere e ben trovato.]

Want, the mistress of invention.

Want, the mistress of invention.

He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams
out of cucumbers, which were to be put read more

He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams
out of cucumbers, which were to be put in phials hermetically
sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw, inclement summers.

Electric telegraphs, printing, gas,
Tobacco, balloons, and steam,
Are little events that have come to pass
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Electric telegraphs, printing, gas,
Tobacco, balloons, and steam,
Are little events that have come to pass
Since the days of the old regime.
And, spite of Lempriere's dazzling page,
I'd give--though it might seem bold--
A hundred years of the Golden Age
For a year of the Age of Gold.