I never pick up an item without thinking of how I might improve it. I never perfected an invention that read more

I never pick up an item without thinking of how I might improve it. I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others. I want to save and advance human life, not destroy it. I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill. The dove is my emblem.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and read more

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.

If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.

If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.

All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large read more

All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.

What hath God wrought?

What hath God wrought?

Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back read more

Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.

We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.

We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a read more

What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.