QuoteProject
As in nature, all is ebb and tide, all is wave motion, so it seems that in all branches of industry, alternating currents - electric wave motion - will have the sway.
Nikola Tesla
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Nature and industry are both governed by cycles of ebb and flow.

Nikola Tesla's quote draws a parallel between the natural world and the realm of industry, suggesting that just as nature experiences cycles of ebb and flow, so too does the progress and operation of industries. He emphasizes the significance of alternating currents, likening them to waves that dominate both the natural landscape and technological advancements, thereby illustrating the interconnectedness of nature and progress in human endeavors.

Themes

NatureIndustryWavesChangeElectricity

In practice

Example use cases

In a speech about innovation, one might quote Tesla to emphasize how new technologies arise in cycles.

More from Nikola Tesla

Even matter called inorganic, believed to be dead, responds to irritants and gives unmistakable evidence of a living principle within. Everything that exists, organic or inorganic, animated or inert, is susceptible to stimulus from the outside.
Nikola TeslaRead
Our senses enable us to perceive only a minute portion of the outside world.
Nikola TeslaRead
Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affected only by its immediate surrounding, the sphere of external influence extends to infinite distance.
Nikola TeslaRead
The history of science shows that theories are perishable. With every new truth that is revealed we get a better understanding of Nature and our conceptions and views are modified.
Nikola TeslaRead
The Secretary of Hygiene or Physical Culture will be far more important in the cabinet of the President of the United States who holds office in the year 2035 than the Secretary of War.
Nikola TeslaRead
I am unwilling to accord to some small−minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts. These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. My project was retarded by laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time, but the same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success.
Nikola TeslaRead

Similar quotes

The Big Bang banged, and for some reason we’re here. And that’s astonishing. And that we can understand that, that’s the most astonishing.
Bill NyeRead
The only useful function of a statistician is to make predictions, and thus to provide a basis for action.
W. Edwards DemingRead
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
Niels BohrRead
After that cancellation [of the Superconducting Super Collider in Texas, after $2 billion had been spent on it], we physicists learned that we have to sing for our supper. ... The Cold War is over. You can't simply say "Russia!" to Congress, and they whip out their checkbook and say, "How much?" We have to tell the people why this atom-smasher is going to benefit their lives.
Michio KakuRead
I'm proud of the fact that I thought of the solar wind. It was an exercise in pursuing curiosity, which is the main motivation for studying physics from a personal standpoint.
Eugene ParkerRead
In the Middle East, where populations are growing fast, the world is seeing the first collision between population growth and water supply at the regional level. For the first time in history, grain production is dropping in a geographic region with nothing in sight to arrest the decline. Each day now brings 10,000 more people to feed and less irrigation water with which to feed them.
Lester R. BrownRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.