“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”
— Nikola Tesla
From various interviews and writings. Tesla's most famous declaration of faith in the long-term value of his work over immediate recognition.
In 1884 I arrived in New York with four cents. Edison hired me, then refused to pay. I dug ditches to survive. In 1888 Westinghouse bought my AC patents for sixty thousand dollars. Edison electrocuted elephants to prove my current was deadly. In 1893 twenty-seven million saw my alternating current light the Chicago World's Fair. Never married. Never got rich. Died alone in a hotel room. But every light you turn on tonight runs on my system. The present was theirs. The future was mine.