Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes.

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• I would not leave anything to a man of action as he would be tempted to give up work; on the other hand, I would like to help dreamers as they find it difficult to get on in life.
  • As quoted in Nobel, Dynamite and Peace (1929) by Ragnar Sohlman and Henrik Schück, as translated by Brian Lunn and Beatrix Lunn, p. 249; also quoted by Lester B. Pearson in his address on accepting the Nobel Peace Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway (10 December 1957)

• If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.
  • As quoted in The 12 best Questions To Ask Customers (2001), by Jim Meisenheimer, p. 26

• My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.
  • As quoted in The Military Quotation Book (2002) by James Charlton, p. 114