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"The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth"

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

"To access the energy of the human spirit, people need to clarify priorities and establish accompanying rituals in three categories: doing what they do best and enjoy most at work; consciously allocating time and energy to the areas of their lives - work, family, health, service to others - they deem most important; and living their core values in their daily behaviors"

"Continuous improvement is not about the things you do well — that’s work. Continuous improvement is about removing the things that get in the way of your work. The headaches, the things that slow you down, that’s what continuous improvement is all about."

"At various points in your careers, you will be called to take a risk. And I think you will find, as I have found, those will be the times of your greatest opportunities."

"There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will"

"Action based on reason, action therefore which is only to be understood by reason, knows only one end, the greatest pleasure of the acting individual"

"Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something: they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take"

"Life’s too short to fight the forces of change. Life’s too short to hate what you do all day. Life’s way too short to make mediocre stuff. And almost everything that is standard is now viewed as mediocre"

"I wish for you a life of wealth, health and happiness; a life in which you give to yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason, the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in your own ability to dream about and achieve worthy rewards"

"Cultivate Curiosity. If you really want to grow in your lifetime, learn to be as inquisitive as a child. Curious people are never bored, and for them life becomes an unending study of joy."

"The thing is, continuity of strategic direction and continuous improvement in how you do things are absolutely consistent with each other. In fact, they’re mutually reinforcing."

"For much of Toyota’s history, we have ensured the quality and reliability of our vehicles by placing a device called an andon cord on every production line – and empowering any team member to halt production if there’s an assembly problem. Only when the problem is resolved does the line begin to move again."

"Many good American companies have respect for individuals, and practice Kaizen and other TPS (Toyota Production System) tools. But what is important is having all of the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner–not in spurts–in a concrete way on the shop floor."

"Time waste differs from material waste in that there can be no salvage. The easiest of all wastes and the hardest to correct is the waste of time, because wasted time does not litter the floor like wasted material."

"I say an hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour out of the entire system. I say an hour saved at a non-bottleneck is worthless. Bottlenecks govern both throughput and inventory."

"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each"

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it."

"I’m as proud of many of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to a thousand things."

"If you have to control people, you have to have an administrative force that does it. So in U.S. industry, even more than elsewhere, there's layer after layer of management - a kind of economic waste, but useful for control and domination. And the same is true in universities."

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well"

"The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want"

"Cultivate your desire for success to be greater than the fear of failure; failure is merely a pit stop between where you stand and success. Failure allows you to learn the fastest; failure inspires winners and defeats losers"

"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next honor"

"Being in control of your life and having realistic expectations about your day-to-day challenges are the keys to stress management, which is perhaps the most important ingredient to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life."

"Because we were a kid act, we traveled at half-fare, despite the fact that we were all around 20. Minnie insisted we were 13. "That kid of yours is in the dining car smoking a cigar," the conductor told her, "and another one is in the washroom shaving." Minnie shook her head sadly. "They grow so fast . . . ""

"Good order is the foundation of all things"

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common - this is my symphony"

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own"

"Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them."

"You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins."

"The aspects of things that are most important to us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity"

"I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times"

"To try and keep trying is the greatest of all virtues"

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning"

"No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did he would cease to be an artist"

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed"

"In a society dominated by the fact of commercial competition, money is necessarily the test of prowess, and wastefulness the soul criterion of power"

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves"

"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure"

"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure."

"I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end . . . I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me"

"Age is like the newest version of a software — it has a bunch of great new features but you lost all the cool features the original version had."

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

"I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced."

"A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make"

"Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens"

"I long to accomplishh a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble"