Edison got his first job at age twelve on the railway selling candy and newspapers. Three years later, he suffered an ear injury from a train accident and lost much of his hearing. He could have had an operation, but he refused. He insisted that being deaf helped him concentrate on his experiments.

十二岁时，爱迪生找到了他的第一份工作──在火车上卖糖果和报纸。三年后，一场火车事故导致他耳朵受伤，几乎完全失聪。他本可以接受手术治疗，但他拒绝了，因为他坚信听觉的丧失可以让他更专心地做实验。