Michel Foucault
Philosopher, Social Theorist
"As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end."
Invention quotes
Invention
270 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Deng Xiaoping
Politician
"Do not debate! is one of my inventions."
John Stuart Mill
Philosopher, Political Economist
"It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being."
Jean Piaget
Psychologist, Philosopher
"To understand is to invent."
Thomas Cole
Painter
"Nothing is invented and brought to perfection all at once."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside invention — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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Invention quotes (page 1 of 14)
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"Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing."
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"And yet the true creator is necessity, which is the mother of invention."
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"The limited liability corporation is the greatest single invention of modern times."
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"Invention is by its very nature disruptive. If you want to be understood at all times, then don't do anything new."
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"Order, unity, and continuity are human inventions, just as truly as catalogues and encyclopedias."
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"We have woven a web, you and I, attached to this world but a separate world of our own invention."
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"A guilty conscience is the mother of invention."
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"Gentle Jesus, meek and mild' is a snivelling modern invention, with no warrant in the gospels."
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"The book is man's best invention so far."
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"I think death is the most wonderful invention of life. It purges the system of these old models that are obsolete."
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"Failure comes part and parcel with invention. It’s not optional."
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"The quiet conscience is an invention of the devil."
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"Necessity is literally the mother of invention."
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"Necessity, who is the mother of our invention."
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"It is only men who are free, who create the inventions and intellectual works which to us moderns make life worth while."
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"Man loves the marvelous. It has an irresistible charm for him. He is always ready to leave that with which he is familiar to pursue vain inventions. He lends himself to his own deception."
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"All the arts come from God and are to be respected as divine inventions"
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"I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have, fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes."
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"The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention."
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"Compound interest on debt was the banker's greatest invention, to capture, and enslave, a productive society."
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