Keep on the lookout for novel ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you're working on.
Problems in human engineering will receive during the coming years the same genius and attention which the nineteenth century gave to the more material forms of engineering._x000D_ _x000D_ We have laid good foundations for industrial prosperity, now we want to assure the happiness and growth of the workers through vocational education, vocational guidance, and wisely managed employment departments. A great field for industrial experimentation and statemanship is opening up.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Edison emphasizes the importance of focusing on human factors in industry, akin to advancements in engineering.
Thomas A. Edison, in this quote, asserts that just as the nineteenth century revolutionized physical engineering, the future will bring significant attention to human engineering. He advocates for the development of vocational education and supportive employment structures to improve workers' happiness and growth, recognizing that the success of industries rests not only on material wealth but also on the well-being and development of the workforce.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about workforce development, I would reference this quote to emphasize the need for vocational training.
More from Thomas A. Edison
All quotes →If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.
I am a vegetarian as well as a passionate anti-alcoholic, because I can thus make better use of my brain.
Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.
I didn't fail 1000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps.
There is no substitute for hard work.
Similar quotes
I will cause a boy who drives a plow to know more of the scriptures than the pope.
I never teach until I've spoken to the fighter. I have to first determine his emotional state, get his background, to find out what I have to do, how many layers I have to keep peeling off so that I get to the core of the person so that he can recognize, as well as I, what is there.
Further Education should be about the ability to learn, not the ability to pay - everyone who is able should have the opportunity, regardless of their family background. I don't want to see students struggling with huge debts or frightened off even going to university in the first place.
What a newspaper needs in its news, in its headlines, and on its editorial page is terseness, humor, descriptive power, satire, originality, good literary style, clever condensation, and accuracy, accuracy, accuracy!
If I am given a formula, and I am ignorant of its meaning, it cannot teach me anything, but if I already know it what does the formula teach me?
A good teacher will appreciate the good qualities of his students. If one good quality is allowed to emerge, a world of good qualities will emerge from that one.