Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

James Dyson Industrial designer

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United Kingdom
  • Born: May 2, 1947
  • Died: Jan 22, 1990

Sir James Dyson, CBE, FREng is a British inventor, industrial designer and founder of the Dyson company. He is best known as the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the principle of cyclonic separation. According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2013, his net worth in 2013 was £3 billion.

People will make leaps of faith and get excited by your product if you just get it in front of them. faith

I don't do something necessarily to make a big profit or because it's a logical business decision. business

I don't particularly follow the Bauhaus school of design, where you make everything into a black box - simplify it. design

Fear is always a good motivator. fear

Anger is a good motivator. anger

I hate science fiction. science

In the digital age of 'overnight' success stories such as Facebook, the hard slog is easily overlooked. age & success

So I think the winners in recession are the people who produce new technology that does things better, which people really want. technology

The media thinks that you have to make science sexy and concentrate on themes such as rivalry and the human issues. science

Design and technology should be the subject where mathematical brainboxes and science whizzkids turn their bright ideas into useful products. design, science & technology

When decisions on nuclear power stations and runways are delayed and the government dilly-dallies, people think they aren't important. government

Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success. failure & success

Beauty can come in strange forms. beauty

Failure is an enigma. You worry about it, and it teaches you something. failure

Arbitrary benchmarks cheat kids out of a fulfilling education. education

Today, computers are almost second nature to most of us. computers

I don't design down to a price. design

I think if you have to pay for your education, you worry very seriously about you're going to do when you've got your degree. education

Business is constantly changing, constantly evolving. business

Britain's great strength is its innovative, design and engineering natural ability and we're not using it. design & strength

The wonderful thing about Apple technology is just how intuitive it is. technology

My interest in film is sort of catholic - apart from science fiction and horror movies, I'll watch almost everything. movies & science