[photo, nikola tesla, 1899]“the progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. it is the most important product of his creative brain. its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over the material world, the harnessing of the forces of nature to human needs. this is the difficult task of the inventor who is often misunderstood and unrewarded. but he finds ample compensation in the pleasing exercises of his powers and in the knowledge of being one of the exceptionally privileged class without whom the race would have long ago perished in the bitter struggle against pitiless elements. i am credited with being one of the hardest workers and perhaps i am, if thought is the equivalent of labour, for i have devoted to it almost all of my waking hours. but if work is interpreted to be a definite performance in a specified time according to a rigid rule, then i may be the worst of idlers. every effort under compulsion demands a sacrifice of life energy. our first endeavors are purely instinctive promptings of imagination vivid and undisciplined. as we grow older reason asserts itself and we become more systematic and designing. the gift of mental power comes from god, divine being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power.”
- nikola tesla
