“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” (And maybe 90% mental?)

THE FAMOUS EDISON QUOTE (THAT HE PROBABLY NEVER SAID): “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”        Attributed to Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)        American inventor and businessman         This oft-cited line is traditionally credited to Edison and he did say some things like it. However, the familiar version of the quote is not included in his writings or in his recorded speeches or interviews. The first mention of a definition of genius by Edison is in an article about him in the April 1898 issue of the Ladies Home Journal. A paragraph in that article says:        “Once, when asked to give his definition of genius, Mr. Edison replied: ‘Two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work.’ At another time, when the argument that genius was inspiration was brought before him, he said: ‘Bah! Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.’”         An article in a 1902 issue of Scientific American claimed that Edison once remarked: “Genius is 2 percent inspiration and 98 percent perspiration,” but it gave no source for the quote. That 2%/98% definition was also mentioned in a 1908 biography of Edison and a 1911 article in Chamber’s Journal — without providing any information on when Edison supposedly said it. Then in 1932, a year after Edison died, an article Harper's Monthly Magazine noted that sometime around 1902 or 1903 Edison said: “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” No source for the quote was given by Harper’s. However, this version became legendary and is cited by many books and websites (often giving Harper’s Monthly Magazine as the source).

YOGI BERRA’S ADAPTABLE ADAPTATION: “Baseball is ninety percent mental. The other half is physical.”        Yogi Berra        US baseball catcher, manager and coach known for his funny, linguistically unique sayings        This is one of the famous “Yogisms” that Yogi is generally believed to have actually said, though various versions have been cited and he used somewhat different wording at various times. In The Yogi Book: I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said! (1998), he quotes himself as saying: “90% of the game is half mental.” In What Time Is It? You Mean Now? (2010) he cites it as “Ninety percent of this game is half-mental.” In a commencement speech at Montclair State University (New Jersey) in 1996, Yogi gave the line a twist, telling the graduating students: “Remember that whatever you do in life, 90 percent of it is half mental.” In Baseball's Greatest Quotations, quotation maven Paul Dickson notes that baseball outfielder Jim Wolford may have used a version of the line before Yogi made it his own.

A T-SHIRT FOR “GENIOUSES”: “Genious is one per cent inspiration and ninety nine per cent perspiration.”        A version on the Edison saying printed on a t-shirt with the word genius misspelled, offered for sale by the upscale European fashion store chain H & M.        (Spotted and mocked by the Metro.co.uk.com site in April 2015.)

A TIP FOR WASHINGTON SPEECHWRITERS: “Successful Washington speechwriting is one percent literary talent and ninety-nine percent political infighting.”         Attributed to Will Sparks        Former speechwriter for President Johnson        Quoted by Bradley H. Patterson Jr. in his book The Ring of Power: the White House Staff and Its Expanding Role in Government

THE POLICE WORK ADAPTATION: “Real police work is ninety-nine percent facts, one percent inspiration.”        Glover Wright        British author and former rock ‘n’ roll guitarist         Line said by a character in his novel The Torch (1980)

For more variations of Edison’s famed quote, see this previous Quote/Counterquote post.

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Related reading…

Genius is one percent inspiration – or maybe two…

THE FAMOUS EDISON QUOTE (THAT HE MAY NOT HAVE SAID): “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”        Attributed to Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)        American inventor and businessman         This well-known witticism (often given without the word “and” after “inspiration”) is traditionally credited to Thomas Edison. He did say some things like it. But those exact words do not appear in his writings or in his recorded speeches or interviews. The first mention of a definition of genius by Edison is in an article about him in the April 1898 issue of the Ladies Home Journal. A paragraph in that article says:        “Once, when asked to give his definition of genius, Mr. Edison replied: ‘Two per cent is genius and ninety-eight per cent is hard work.’ At another time, when the argument that genius was inspiration was brought before him, he said: ‘Bah! Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.’”         An article in a 1902 issue of Scientific American claimed that Edison once remarked: “Genius is 2 percent inspiration and 98 percent perspiration,” but it gave no source for the quote. That 2%/98% definition was also mentioned in a 1908 biography of Edison and a 1911 article in Chamber’s Journal — without providing any information on when Edison supposedly said it. Then in 1932, a year after Edison died, an article Harper's Monthly Magazine noted that sometime around 1902 or 1903 Edison said: “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” No source for the quote was given by Harper’s. However, this version became legendary and is cited by many books and websites (often giving Harper’s Monthly Magazine as the source).

THE **** HAPPENS VERSION: “Life is one percent what happens to you, and ninety-nine percent how you respond to it.”        Shubhra Krishan        Indian born American journalist, author and holistic health advocate        In her book Essential Ayurveda (2003). Quoting something she’d read.

JOHN GARDNER’S COUNTERQUOTE: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent obdurate stupidity.”        John C. Gardner (1933-1982)        American scholar and novelist         A line attributed to a fictional writer in Gardner’s novel Stillness and Shadows (1986)

THE SEX AND CRIME VARIATION: “Sex is like crime. Only one percent motivation and ninety-nine percent opportunity.”        Len Deighton          British novelist and historian        In his novel Mexico Set (1985)

THE ASSASSINATION VARIATION: “Assassination is one percent shooting, ninety-nine percent preparation.”         Jeffrey Donovan (as former spy Michael Westen)        In the “False Flag” episode of Burn Notice (Season 1, Ep. 10)

THE BUSINESS SUCCESS VARIATION: “Succeeding in this business is ninety-nine percent perseverance and one percent talent. Congratulations, gentlemen, you’re ninety-nine percent of the way there.”          Bob Balaban (as the character Arthur Planck)        In the movie Dedication (2007)

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Related reading and viewing…

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

THE FAMOUS MISQUOTE: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”        Attributed to Mark Twain (1835-1910)        American humorist, journalist, novelist and social critic        According to a widely-repeated legend, Twain made this quip when he heard there were rumors he had died and that one newspaper had printed his obituary. Another common variation of the line uses the words “…have been greatly exaggerated.” Sometimes the quip is given as “Reports of my death are grossly exaggerated.”        However, all of the commonly-heard versions using “greatly exaggerated” or “grossly exaggerated” are misquotes.        As noted in many scholarly books of quotations and explained in a post on my This Day in Quotes blog, what Twain actually said was “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”        The origin of the more familiar misquote versions of Twain’s response seems to be an embellished anecdote in Chapter 197 of Albert Bigelow Paine’s biography of Twain, which was published in 1912, two years after Twain’s death.

A RECENT PARAPHRASE BY PRESIDENT OBAMA: “As Mark Twain said, you know, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point.”        President Barack Obama        His response during a White House press conference on April 30, 2013, when a reporter asked if he still had the political “juice” needed to get his legislative proposals passed by Congress, in light of his recent high profile failures to get gun control and budget legislation approved.

THE DICK CHENEY INVERSE PARAPHRASE: “The rumors that Cheney is alive are somewhat exaggerated. It’s Mark Twain in reverse.”        Hans Blix        Swedish diplomat and politician        His answer in a 2004 interview in the New York Times when asked if US Vice President Dick Cheney had seemed more “wooden” than President George W. Bush during a meeting Blix had with them prior to the Second Gulf War (a.k.a. the 2003 invasion of Iraq).        Blix led the international weapons inspection teams charged with determining if Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, a claim Bush and Cheney pushed as the main reason to invade the country. As Blix pointed out, no WMDs were found. Of course, this fact was was dismissed by Bush and Cheney.

THE SOAP OPERA VERSION: “Rumors of my chastity have been greatly exaggerated.”        Donna Martin, a character played by actress Tori Spelling in the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210        One of her wisecracks in the “Reunion” episode (Season 8, Ep. 27, first aired April 15, 1998)

THE SPACE OPERA VERSION: “Reports of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated.”        Captain Jean-Luc Picard, played by actor Patrick Stewart        A quip Picard makes in the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), in which some crew members of the USS Enterprise are “assimilated” by the part-machine, part-organic, hive-like life form(s) called the Borg.

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Related reading and viewing…

“Let them eat cake” – the misinterpreted origin, recent political uses and some politically incorrect variations...

THE ALLEGED (BUT DOUBTFUL) ORIGIN: “Let them eat cake.” (“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche.”)        Attributed to Marie Antoinette (1755-1793)        Queen of France from 1774 to 1792; beheaded in 1793 in the wake of the French Revolution         This classic expression of disdain for the common people has traditionally been attributed to Marie Antoinette. She supposedly said it when she was told that most French people were do poor they were unable to buy bread to eat. Many scholars now doubt that she actually said it. Moreover, if she did say the line as traditionally given in French — “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” — it has long been mistranslated and possibly misunderstood. In English, those words actually mean “Let them eat brioche,” referring to a bakery product that is not what we usually think of as a “cake.” Brioche is a light, fluffy pastry with a flaky crust. As explained by the excellent Phrase Finder site, French law in Marie Antoinette’s time required bakers to sell fancier products like brioche at the same price as a common loaf of bread, to prevent them from using too much of the limited flour supplies to make products that would typically be more profitable to the bakery but unaffordable to poor French families. Thus, “Let them eat brioche” could have been an expression of compassion rather than disdain, suggesting that poor people should have access to a product they would have been unable to afford without price controls.

THE POLITICAL PEAS VERSION: “While chastising the Republicans for not agreeing to a debt ceiling deal that would include his suggestions to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits, President Obama said Congressional members needed to do their work, reach a deal and just ‘eat their peas.’...While no one knows for sure if Marie Antoinette ever really said, ‘Let them eat cake,’ we do know the elite in France all those years ago in the 1700s were clueless to the cries of people who couldn't afford bread much less the cake they had been admonished to eat. It appears that in 2011 in the United States of America, we can now replace that admonition with our own: ‘Let them eat their peas.’”        Donna Smith        Healthcare reform activist and Founder of American Patients United        In an opinion piece posted on OpedNews.com on July 18, 2011

THE POLITICAL CORN (FLAKE) VERSION: “Now, once again the reincarnated Marie Antoinette Michele Bachmann is screaming from the floor of the House of Representatives and from Iowa televisions ‘I will not raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances. Let them eat corn!’ If the GOP once again drive the country and the world into a financial ditch can martial law and a fascist dictatorship in the United States be far behind?”        Karen Fish        Freelance blogger        In an op-ed posted on TheSpoof.com site on July 23, 2011

POLITICALLY INCORRECT VARIATION #1: “Let Them Eat Pussy”        Title of the 1998 debut album by the “psychobilly” rock band Nashville Pussy

POLITICALLY INCORRECT VARIATION #2: “I saw this video once, yeah, they was all dressed up like Marie Antoinette. Well, they wore the wigs. Let Them Eat Cock it was called.”        Actor Fraser Ayres        As the character Clint, in an episode of the BBC comedy TV series The Smoking Room (2004–2005)

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Related reading…

“Those who cannot remember the past...”

FAMOUS ORIGINAL QUOTE: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”        George Santayana (1863-1952)        Spanish-American philosopher, poet and novelist         In his book The Life of Reason, Volume I (1905)         This line was used by Walter Shirer as the epigraph of his book Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1959)        Often misquoted with the ending “doomed to repeat it.”

STOP MISQUOTES COUNTERQUOTE: “A deliberately incorrect Google search (with search terms Santayana, ‘remember history’ and ‘doomed to repeat’), yielded 269 Web pages misquoting Santayana (‘Those who cannot remember history are doomed to repeat it.’). Those who cannot remember quotations are condemned to paraphrase them.”        A reference librarian who blogs as “denseatoms”        On the NowPublic.com site

JANE ACE COUNTERQUOTE: “Those who cannot forget the past are doomed to remember it.”        Jane Ace (1897-1974)        American comedienne, wife and comic partner of Goodman Ace        One of her famous malaprops on the couple’s Easy Aces radio show (1930-1945)

BUFFY’S VARIATION: “You know what they say. Those of us who fail history, doomed to repeat it in summer school.”        Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar)        In the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer         From the episode "After Life" (Season 6, Ep. 3), first aired Oct. 9, 2001

BUFFY FAN VARIATION: “Those who cannot forget the past are doomed to watch it — endlessly — in syndication.”        Article on the fall TV season in TV Guide, 1985        (Image by Chicago artist Stacia Yeapanis)

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Read some books about misquotations (so you don’t repeat them)…

“A House Divided”

FAMOUS BIBILICAL QUOTE: “Every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”        Jesus        Quoted in the Bible, Matthew 12:25        The inspiration for Abraham Lincoln’s famous quote

STUDENT COUNTERQUOTE: “A horse divided against itself cannot stand.”         A “student blooper”         Quoted by Richard Lederer in The Bride of Anguished English

ANTHROPOLIGIST’S VERSION: “A cultural system divided against itself cannot behave in a rational manner.”        Leslie Alvin White (1900-1975)        American anthropologist        Comment in 1975, quoted by Jack P. Gibbs in Control: Sociology’s Central Notion

GEORGE DIVIDED VARIATION: “You see, right now I have Relationship George. But there is also Independent George...If Relationship George walks through this door, he will kill Independent George. A George divided against itself cannot stand!”         George Costanza (actor Jason Alexander)         In the “Pool Guy” episode of Seinfeld (Season 7, Episode 8, 1995)

More from Richard Lederer and Leslie A. White…