It is a curious property of research activity that after the problem has been solved the solution seems obvious. This is true not only for those who have not previously been acquainted with the problem, but also for those who have worked over it for years.
Edwin LandAn invention that is quickly accepted will turn out to be a rather trivial alteration of something that has already existed.
Edwin LandA significant inventionmust be startling, unexpected. It must come to a world that is not prepared for it.
Edwin LandLook, if the picture you get instantly is as beautiful as the picture you get by waiting seven days, then it is absolute madness to say that there is virtue in waiting.
Edwin LandI have long aspired to make our company a noble prototype of industry, penetrating in science, reliable in engineering, creative in aesthetics and wholesomely prosperous in economics.
Edwin LandWe live in a world changing so rapidly that what we mean frequently by common sense is doing the thing that would have been right last year.
Edwin LandThis is the most exciting part of being human. It is using our brains in the highest way. Otherwise we are just healthy animals
Edwin LandThere's a rule they don't teach you at the Harvard Business School. It is, if anything is worth doing, it's worth doing to excess.
Edwin LandMy motto is very personal and may not fit anyone else or any other company. It is: Don't do anything that someone else can do. Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.
Edwin LandThe test of an invention is the power of an inventor to push it through in the face of staunch-not opposition, but indifference-in society.
Edwin LandA mistake is an event, the full benefit of which has not yet been turned to your advantage.
Edwin LandIf you dream of something worth doing and then simply go to work on it and don't think anything of personalities, or emotional conflicts, or of money, or of family distractions; it is amazing how quickly you get through those 5,000 steps.
Edwin LandA premature attempt to explain something that thrills you will destroy your perceptivity rather than increase it, because your tendency will be to explain away rather than seek out.
Edwin LandAs I review the nature of the creative drive in the inventive scientists that have been around me, as well as in myself, I find the first event is an urge to make a significant intellectual contribution that can be tangible embodied in a product or process.
Edwin LandI believe quite simply that the small company of the future will be as much a research organization as it is a manufacturing company.
Edwin LandWe have to keep in practice like musicians. Besides, there are still potentialities to be realized in color film. To us, it's just like bringing up a child. You don't stop after you've had it.
Edwin LandFamous in our circles is the story of the visiting English banker who in 1948 upon seeing our model 95 camera commented, 'Very interesting, but why would one want a picture in a minute?'
Edwin LandThe process must be concealed from - non-existent for - the photographer, who by definition need think of the art in the taking and not in the making photographs... In short, all that should be necessary to get a good picture is to take a good picture.
Edwin LandOver the years, I have learned that every significant invention has several characteristics. By definition it must be startling, unexpected, and must come into a world that is not prepared for it. If the world were prepared for it, it would not be much of an invention.
Edwin LandWork only on problems that are manifestly important and seem to be nearly impossible to solve. That way you will have a natural market for your product and no competition.
Edwin LandYou think that the only thing that counts is the bottom line! What a presumptuous thing to say. The bottom line is in heaven.
Edwin LandIf you are able to state a problem - any problem - and if it is important enough, then the problem can be solved.
Edwin LandWe took on things which people might think would take a year or two. They weren't particularly hard. What was hard was believing they weren't hard.
Edwin LandThe first thing you do is teach the person to feel that the vision is very important and nearly impossible. That draws out the drive in the winner.
Edwin LandThe world is like a fertile field that's waiting to be harvested. The seeds have been planted, and what I do is go out and help plant more seeds and harvest them.
Edwin Land