A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with — a man is what he makes of himself.
Alexander Graham Bell
- Life
- 1847-1922
- Occupations
- physicist, electrical engineer, businessperson
- Notable works
- invention of telephone
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.
Alexander Graham Bell
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
Alexander Graham Bell
Don’t keep forever on the public road. Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something you have never seen before, and something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the result of thought.
Alexander Graham Bell
Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do you will be certain to find something you have never seen before.
Alexander Graham Bell
Mr. Watson, come here, I want you.
Alexander Graham Bell
Perseverance must have some practical end, or it does not avail the man possessing it. A person without a practical end in view becomes a crank or an idiot. Such persons fill our asylums.
Alexander Graham Bell
The nation that secures control of the air will ultimately control the world.
Alexander Graham Bell
What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.
Alexander Graham Bell
When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.
Alexander Graham Bell