When I was invited to talk to you tonight I had no idea of what to say. I thought of all the good maxims for your future conduct in life; but giving advice to young people is out of my line, and it seemed to be better to choose some subject with which I was a little familiar myself. How discoveries and inventions arise from the observation of little things is surely a topic worthy of your consideration. I also thought it would be interesting for you to know how many apparently impossible results have been actually achieved by the patient multiplication of little observations.

'Discovery and Invention' by Alexander Graham Bell, The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 25 (1924)