404·Quotes

On display — attributed

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
Label

Attributed to Thomas Edison

No original source found

Attributed Reported from 1898 in several versions; Edison accepted the one-and-ninety-nine version as his in 1932. Every early version is reported rather than written by him.

Did Thomas Edison say “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”? Yes, in several versions, from 1898

Very probably, though always in reported speech. Newspapers and magazines quoted Edison from 1898 with two ratios, 2 to 98 and 1 to 99, and in 1932 Harper's Magazine quoted him saying: “You may have heard people repeat what I have said, ‘Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.’” The contrast between inspiration and perspiration was already a saying before he put numbers on it.

What it means

Great work is mostly effort, not flashes of brilliance. The idea arrives in a moment; the rest is long, sweaty labour, and that is the part most people never see.

Where it comes from

Quote Investigator finds the pairing in circulation before Edison: in 1892 a Massachusetts paper noted that “genius is perspiration more than inspiration” was a common saying, and the lecturer Kate Sanborn was defining genius as “inspiration, talent and perspiration”. In April 1898 The Ladies' Home Journal reported Edison saying “Two per cent. is genius and ninety-eight per cent. is hard work”, and “Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.”

The 1-and-99 version appears, credited to Edison, in an Idaho newspaper in 1901, while the 2-and-98 version was still printed (Scientific American, 1902). A 1910 biography gave the modern form, and in 1932 Martin André Rosanoff, who had worked in Edison's laboratory, quoted Edison claiming it. Because every early version is reported rather than written by Edison, it is labelled attributed here; Quote Investigator thinks it reasonable to credit him.

Other versions you will see

  • “Genius is two per cent inspiration and ninety-eight per cent perspiration.”
    The other ratio, reported from 1898
  • “Genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.”
    Credited to Edison in an Idaho newspaper, 1901

Provenance

  1. ReferenceQuote Origin: Genius Is One Percent Inspiration, Ninety-Nine Percent Perspiration — Quote Investigator
  2. ReferenceThomas Edison (sourced quotations) — Wikiquote

Last reviewed 6 October 2026

Questions

Did Edison say “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration”?

He is quoted saying it from 1901, and in 1932 he was quoted claiming it as his. Earlier reports give 2 and 98 per cent.

Was the saying Edison's idea?

Contrasting inspiration with perspiration was already a saying by 1892. Edison is credited with the numbers.

What does it mean?

That success comes far more from hard work than from talent or sudden ideas.

Where this one hangs

It belongs in the Hard Work room, with the other checked lines on the same subject.

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