We have to grasp not only the Know-How but also 'Know Why', if we want to master the Toyota Production System.

There are four purposes of improvement: easier, better, faster, and cheaper. These four goals appear in the order of priority.

Improvement usually means doing something that we have never done before.

A relentless barrage of 'why’s' is the best way to prepare your mind to pierce the clouded veil of thinking caused by the status quo. Use it often.

The best approach is to dig out and eliminate problems where they were assumed not to exist.

The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize.

Lean is a way of thinking- not a list of things to do

Unless you change direction, you will end up where you are headed.

It's only the last turn of a bolt that tightens it - the rest is just movement.

Those who are not dissatisfied will never make any progress

When you buy bananas all you want is the fruit not the skin, but you have to pay for the skin also. It is a waste. And you the customer should not have to pay for the waste.

A pessimist? A man who thinks everybody as nasty as himself and hates them for it.

I gained twenty pounds [during pregnancy of my wife].

I'm not an exhibitionist. But, honestly, for my art I'll do anything almost. I'll go there.

Infrastructure web services had to happen.

The rise of the Internet has caused the demise of the record labels, and has destroyed the music business of old, but it's also created new opportunities for young artists.

You ask why I make my home n the mountain forest, and I smile, and am silent, and even my soul remains quiet: it lives in the other world which no one owns. The peach trees blossom, The water flows.

My interest in political philosophy was rather casual until I met Hayek.

I'm going with the understanding that I've done my duty.

My favourite subject at school was avoiding unnecessary work.