June is the birth month of Alan Turing. Without his work, there would be no computers (plus, the Nazis might have won WWII). Every day I have reason to be thankful to pioneers of scientific discovery like him. Laser surgery has improved my sight, airplanes carry me to exciting opportunities all over the world, and my computer allows me to exchange ideas with many smart people. I imagine it would not take you long to think of at least three innovations that have improved your life, too.
The creative individuals who have changed the world through their inventions also have much to teach about the smartest ways to live, learn, and pursue your dreams. Here are 21 quotes to motivate you as you seek to innovate your own preferred future.
1. “Ethical teaching is weakened if it is tied up with dogmas that will not bear examination.” – Margaret E. Knight, Inventor of the Paper Bag Machine
2. “It had long come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
3. “A person who cares about the earth will resonate with its purity.” – Sally Fox, Inventor of Foxfibre Colored Cotton
4. “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” – George Washington Carver, inventor of multiple agricultural and food products
5. “I cannot emphasize the importance of a good teacher.” – Temple Grandin, multiple animal handling inventions
6. “If it’s a good idea, go ahead and do it. It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” – Grace Murray Hopper, COBOL computer language
7. “Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.” – Nikola Tesla
8. “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” – Alexander Graham Bell 9. “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” –Thomas Edison
10. “I didn’t have a fellow at the time, so I had to do it all myself. I had to … appreciate that as a woman, I was strong, complete, adequate.” -Bette Nesmith Graham, Inventor of Liquid Paper
11. “All creative people want to do the unexpected.” – Hedy Lamarr, inventor of spread spectrum communication technology
12. “We should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.” – Benjamin Franklin
13. “A lie can run around the world before the truth can get it’s boots on.” – James Watt
14. “Believe in the power of truth… Do not allow your mind to be imprisoned by majority thinking. Remember that the limits of science are not the limits of imagination.” –Dr. Patricia E. Bath, inventor of Laserphaco cataract removal
15. “The most dangerous notion a young man can acquire is that there is no more room for originality. There is no large room for anything else.” – Henry Ford
16. “I guess that’s just the life of an inventor: what people do with your ideas takes you totally by surprise.” -Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar
17. “More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination.” – Wilbur Wright
18. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk
19. “Don’t dwell on what happened, no matter how bad it was. Find something else to do. Find something to do to help others.” – Ruth Handler, designer of Barbie Doll
20. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” – Mark Zuckerberg
21. “Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine.” – Alan Turing
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.