Thursday 1 September 2011

Thomas Edison's Quote

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Thomas Edison spoke these words in 1877.  What if the inventor had given up before he invented the light bulb?  What if Laura Secord had stopped walking at mile 18 with the British camp only a mile away and the Americans about to attack Upper Canada?  What if Abraham Lincoln had quit politics after a second failed bid for the Senate in 1858 with his successful presidential bid only two years later?  What if  Tom Longboat had stopped running at mile 23 of the Boston Marathon back in 1907 with the trophy within his grasp?  What if NASA had ditched the space program after the fire on Apollo 1 in 1967 with the moon landing only two and a half years later?  Where would we meet for coffee if Tim Horton had given up after opening a burger joint that went bankrupt in the early 1960's, eventhough his successful donut shop would open in Hamilton by 1964.  Who would climbers mentor if Sir Edmund Hillary had stopped before he reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953?  What would have happened to diabetics if Sir Frederick Banting gave up before he discovered insulin in 1923?  And what would have become of North America if Christopher Columbus had have turned back before he spotted land back in 1492?

You, too, could be on the brink of success:  if you walk another mile; if you climb a few more feet; if you sail another furlong.  Victory is within your reach -- if you only try.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)



Photo of Thomas Edison circa 1878 courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org












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