Heather, a regular GBM reader, sent a quote to me that she attributed to a famous person who has been dead for 81 years, and asked me to comment on it.
The quote was so profound and exhibited such dramatic foresight for a person who lived 100 years ago that I was immediately dubious. Even though the person in question had, without a doubt, a brilliant mind, I suspected that Heather had fallen victim to an urban legend.
I did some fact checking and there was nothing listed about it on Snopes, and Wikiquote attributed the quote to the same person that Heather claimed said it.
Ready?
“We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature’s inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. … I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” -Thomas Edison, inventor (1847-1931)
My comments? Wow! This is proof that it sometimes takes a very long time before we can fully appreciate a person’s genius. Talk about being ahead of your time!
