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"Everything that can be invented – has already been invented," and other famous invention-related quotes

This (in)famous quote has long been attributed to the commissioner of the United States Patent Office, a Mr. Charles Duell, back in 1899, and it’s one of my personal favorites. Since the patent office opened in 1790, it has registered more than 6.2 million patents.

When I called the patent office in an attempt to verify the accuracy of this quote, the lady on the other end of Mr. Bell’s invention told me that the commissioner was misquoted when he said that. Whether or not she was being honest is anyone’s guess; you really couldn’t blame her if she was simply towing the company line in order to avoid embarrassment.

Either way, the jury is still out on whether the former patent commissioner is an early inventor of the art of being misquoted.

Surprisingly, though, this wasn’t the first time someone had made such a remark. In 10 A.D., Roman Engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus said, "Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments."

This began a long line of infamous invention-related notable quotables, such as:

"That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?" ... President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, after Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone to him at the White House.

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom," ... Robert Milken, Nobel Prize winner in physics, 1923

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible," ... Lord Kelvin, President Royal Society, 1895

"Who the hell wants to watch movies with sound?" Who said this? Believe it or not, it was the president of Warner Brothers Studios, Harry Warner, sometime around 1918.

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom," ... Robert Milken, Nobel Prize winner in physics, 1923

Well, in spite of his frequent stubbornness to the point of being short-sighted, and his sloppy note-taking which has caused many to (unjustly) cast doubts on his ethics, Millikan is still one of my heroes. A great scientist, a great educator, and a great conservative whose political ideas deserve to be resurrected and re-appraised.