“Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” (Thomas Edison)
Many of us know Thomas Edison as the inventor of the lightbulb, but he invented many other things.
In fact, he received more than 1,000 patents during his lifetime. He was quite a prolific inventor.
Click here to listen to the 1-minute version of this article on the “Success is a Choice” podcast network.
I must admit that I wasn’t very good at science when I was young and don’t know a lot about technology or electricity. My dad could make anything work but the same couldn’t be said for me.
I’m glad there was someone like Edison to invent all this stuff but I have a hard time relating to his inventing prowess.
However, I can relate to him in one sense…
Thomas Edison failed a lot!
Wait, what?!?
Yep, Thomas Edison failed more than he succeeded.
That definitely sounds like me – maybe even you.
I can’t relate to his creative intellect but I definitely can relate to his persistence, perseverance and positive perspective.
Edison liked to say, “No, I didn’t fail.I just found 1,000 ways the lightbulb does not work.”
Even us ordinary folk can learn from the guy who said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99% perspiration.”
We can’t give up today. We need to keep going.
As Edison also said, “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”