Such was my first meeting with Edison. I did not see him again until
many years after--until our motor had been developed and was in
production. He remembered perfectly our first meeting. Since then we
have seen each other often. He is one of my closest friends, and we
together have swapped many an idea.
His knowledge is almost universal. He is interested in every conceivable
subject and he recognizes no limitations. He believes that all things
are possible. At the same time he keeps his feet on the ground. He goes
forward step by step. He regards "impossible" as a description for that
which we have not at the moment the knowledge to achieve. He knows that
as we amass knowledge we build the power to overcome the impossible.
That is the rational way of doing the "impossible." The irrational way
is to make the attempt without the toil of accumulating knowledge. Mr.
Edison is only approaching the height of his power. He is the man who is
going to show us what chemistry really can do. For he is a real
scientist who regards the knowledge for which he is always searching as
a tool to shape the progress of the world.
Pages:
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399