Edison, the Man (1940)

Spencer Tracy: Thomas A. Edison

Photos 

Quotes 

• Ben Els : I keep worryin' about Bunt. I guess I won't get a wink of sleep tonight.

  Thomas A. Edison : Ah, Mr. Els, you shouldn't try to do two things at once. If you're gonna sleep, sleep. If you're gonna worry, why stay awake and make a good job of it.

• Mr. Taggart : We've no guarantee that these theories of yours are workable.

  Thomas A. Edison : Well, most electricity is theory yet.

  Mr. Taggart : That's the trouble. Beyond a point what good is electricity anyway?

  Thomas A. Edison : What good is a newborn baby?

• Thomas A. Edison : [after the latest attempt to find a filament that will work in the electric light]  Well, we failed again. That's the net result of nine thousand experiments.

  Michael Simon : Too bad, Tom. We know the work you have done. We are as sorry as you are that you didn't get results.

  Thomas A. Edison : Results? Man, I got a lot of results. I know nine thousand things now that won't work.

• Thomas A. Edison : Uncle Ben, I've got to do something, and I'm open for suggestions.

  Ben Els : You foolin', Tom?

  Thomas A. Edison : I wish I was?

  Ben Els : Nobody ever asked me for advice before.

  Thomas A. Edison : Why, then, you ought to have a lot of it stored up.

• Thomas A. Edison : How about that job you promised me?

  Bunt Cavatt : Hah? Oh... You don't want to work in New York, Tom. This town is no good fer yeh. The tall buildings crush the spirit and torment the soul.

• Thomas A. Edison : [speaking to young Jimmy Price]  Funny thing about mistakes- they don't have to be *permanent*. I had to find that out *myself* when I was a boy.

• Thomas A. Edison : [to the Gold Exchange clerk, who once told him he'd have to wait until next Christmas to see Mr. Taggart, before Edison fixed the gold ticker and got an appointment with Taggart:]  Merry Christmas.

• Nancy Grey : Mr. Edison, what would you say is the most valuable thing in the world?

  Thomas A. Edison : That is easy: time.

  Nancy Grey : [surprised and puzzled]  Time?

  Thomas A. Edison : For all the money in the world you can not buy a minute of it.