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Edison tried 10,000 times?
Did the famous Inventor "Thomas Alva Edison" ever say that quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." in history?
The chill fact is -- No! However, Thomas Edidon did say some inspiring words close to that, here is the real cool story:
This famous quote originated from his work on the alkaline storage battery, not the light bulb, which is a common misconception, we should not let the light bulb steal the show!
In a biography of 1910s, Walter S. Mallory (Edison’s then-associate) expressed upset that they had conducted over 9,000 experiments without a positive result!
In that historical moment, Edison just showed a mysterious smile and said:
"Results? Why? Man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won't work!"
Over the decades, the number (and his quote) shifted in various interviews and retellings, sometimes it lower than one thousand, sometimes it exactly equal to ten thousand.
In an American Magazine's interview of 1920s, Thomas Edison recounted this legendary storage battery story, but saying he had found "999" different ways that wouldn't work.
This number became exactly "10,000" in later years as his story was used for motivational speaking, after all, ten thousand sounds more powerful than nine thousand!
Even though the modern "10,000 version" is a slightly polished, this sentiment is absolutely authentic to Edison’s philosophy. The inventor didn’t view failed experiments as defeats, but as results to the goal of success!
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Cool Stories, Chill Facts!
