Edwin Land

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Hiding in plain sight

  “One of the best ways to keep a great secret is to shout it.”

  Our noteLand shared this observation during an address to employees at Symphony Hall in Boston.

• Power of intense concentration

  “My whole life has been spent trying to teach people that intense concentration for hour after hour can bring out in people resources they didn't know they had.”

  Our noteLand discussed the hidden potential within individuals during an interview with Forbes.

• Fulfilling human needs

  “If you sense a deep human need, then you go back to all the basic science. If there is some missing, then you try to do more basic science and applied science until you get it.”

  Our noteLand described his approach to innovation, starting with a need rather than a technology.

• Testing product value

  “Very often the best way to find out whether something is worth making is to make it, distribute it, and then to see, after the product has been around a few years, whether it was worth the trouble.”

  Our noteLand explains why initial public reaction is not a reliable measure of value.

• Monopoly through innovation

  “Who can object to a monopoly when any new company, if it is built around a scientific nucleus, can create a new monopoly of its own by creating a wholly new field?”

  Our noteLand argues that scientific innovation justifies market dominance.

• Small group dynamics

  “Each individual will be a member of a group small enough so that he feels a full participant in the purpose and activity of the group. His voice will be heard and his individuality recognized.”

  Our noteLand visualizes the ideal business structure of the future.

• Creating order from chaos

  “The scientist comes to the world and says, "I do not understand the divine source, but I know, in a way that I don't understand, that out of chaos I can make order, out of loneliness I can make friendship, out of ugliness I can make beauty.”

  Our noteLand describes the scientist's contribution to human experience.

• Accelerating maturity

  “The fact that civilization is becoming more intricate must not mean that we treat men for a longer period as immature. Does it not mean, perhaps, the opposite: that we must skillfully make them mature sooner, that we must find ways of handling the intricacy of our culture?”

  Our noteLand discusses the need for earlier maturity in a complex world.

• Freedom and encouragement

  “There are areas where untrained people may work effectively and with limited equipment. Our pupil doesn't need a big laboratory to do this, he needs freedom; he needs encouragement.”

  Our noteLand emphasizes the environment needed for scientific exploration.

• Deliberate human intervention

  “The special role of the human being is not to wait for these favorable accidents but deliberately to introduce the small change that will have great significance.”

  Our noteLand explains the human responsibility to initiate meaningful change rather than waiting.