Alexander Graham Bell

door closes opens regret

“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

consentrate thoughts work at hand sun burn focus

“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus”

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

man slow growth pup weeks years

“Man is the result of slow growth; that is why he occupies the position he does in animal life. What does a pup amount to that has gained its growth in a few days or weeks, beside a man who only attains it in as many years.”

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

man heritage born

“A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself.”

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

public road others gone path woods discovery

“Don't keep forever on the public road, going only where others have gone. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. You'll be certain to find something you have never seen before.”

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

day come telephone see videophone

"The day will come when the man at the telephone will be able to see the distant person to whom he is speaking."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

preparation key success

"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

difference success failure ability action

"The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

achievement goal starting point

"The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

discovery improvement innovation cooperation many minds

"Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

major city America telephone forecast prediction

"One day every major city in America will have a telephone."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

force ideas slow growth perfection

"You cannot force ideas. Successful ideas are the result of slow growth. Ideas do not reach perfection in a day, no matter how much study is put upon them."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

walk life eyes shut never looked

"We are all too much inclined, I think, to walk through life with our eyes shut. There are things all round us and right at our very feet that we have never seen, because we have never really looked."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

night quiet work aids thought

"Night is a more quiet time to work. It aids thought."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

mental atrophy person observe remember answer how why mind brain

"There cannot be mental atrophy in any person who continues to observe, to remember what he observes, and to seek answers for his unceasing hows and whys about things."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

telephone inform people telegram

"The telephone will be used to inform people that a telegram has been sent."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

advantage telephone apparatus skill use instrument

"The great advantage [the telephone] possesses over every other form of electrical apparatus consists in the fact that it requires no skill to operate the instrument."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

critical point aerial flight beginning end aircraft airplane

"There are two critical points in every aerial flight-its beginning and its end."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)

Washington inventions

"Washington is no place in which to carry out inventions."

— Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)