Thomas Edison is credited with a famous adage about creativity and innovation:
Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
In 1893 Kate Sanborn delivered a lecture in California that was reported in a Riverside newspaper. Here she suggested that genius was composed of three ingredients, but she did not give a memorable fractional breakdown.
Her subject was “What is Genius?” She quoted copiously from ancient and modern writers, giving their definitions of the word genius, and wittily added that “genius is inspiration, talent and perspiration.”
In April 1898 “The Ladies’ Home Journal”printed a remark about genius credited to Thomas Edison. The main ingredient mentioned was “hard work” and the ratio was 98 to 2. Expert Ralph Keyes listed this citation in “The Quote Verifier” reference.
Once, when asked to give his definition of genius, Mr.Thomas 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.”
Anyway whatever the conclusion about the percentages - its a lot of hard work.
