“Great ideas originate in the muscles”

“Great ideas originate in the muscles” means that the great ideas come from hard work. The quotation has been cited in print since at least 1991, when it was attributed to American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931). There is no known evidence that Edison ever said it or said anything like it.
 
   
Wikipedia: Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large-scale teamwork to the process of invention, and because of that, he is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
 
Google Books
Words of Wellness:
A Treasury of Quotations for Well-Being
Compiled and edited by Joseph Sutton
Carson, CA: Hay House, Inc.
1991
Pg. 115:
Great ideas originate in the muscles. — Thomas Edison
 
Google Books
Revolution from Within:
A Book of Self-Esteem
By Gloria Steinem
Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.
1992
Pg. 199:
“Great ideas originate in the muscles.”
THOMAS EDISON
 
Google Books
A Big Life
By Susan Johnson
Chippendale, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia
1993
Pg. ?:
“Great ideas originate in the muscles.”
THOMAS EDISON
 
29 November 1996, Aberdeen (SD) American News, pg. 4A (masthead):
“Great ideas originate in the muscles.”
Thomas Edison
   
Google Books
Innovate Like Edison:
The Five-Step System for Breakthrough Business Success
By Michael J. Gelb and Sarah Miller Caldicott
New York, NY: Plume
2007
Pg. ?:
His knack for using his kinesthetic intelligence to aid in problem solving is manifest in his comment that, “Great ideas originate in the muscles.”