“Rational behavior requires theory. Reactive behavior requires only reflex action.”

Research shows that the climate of an organization influences an individual’s contribution far more than the individual himself.

Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival.

Hold everybody accountable? Ridiculous!

Quality is the responsibility of the top people. Its origin is in the boardroom. They are the ones who decide.

Declining productivity and quality means your unit production costs stay high but you don’t have as much to sell.

Export anything to a friendly country except American management.

Quality is pride of workmanship.

I predicted in 1950 that in five years, manufacturers the world over would be screaming for protection. It took only four years.

If you don’t understand how to run an efficient operation, new machinery will just give you new problems of operation and maintenance.

American management thinks that they can just copy from Japan. But they don’t know what to copy.

I am forever learning and changing.

The big problems are where people don’t realise they have one in the first place.

Whenever there is fear, you will get wrong figures.

When a system is stable, telling the worker about mistakes is only tampering.

No one knows the cost of a defective product – don’t tell me you do.

You can not define being exactly on time.

Scientists turn reckless and mutter like gamblers who cannot stop betting. Scientists are buffoons, not because they are rational but because the cosmos is irrational.

When a planner speaks of implementing goals rationally.

Philosophy had supplied Socrates with convictions in which he had been able to have rational, as opposed to hysterical, confidence when faced with disapproval.

Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.

If you’re rational and logical, they argue their case rationally and logically. If you’re loyal and faithful, they turn those against you.

For me, a totalitarian parody of a would-be rational learning process.

It demanded a new rationale for belief.

The human race will then become one family, and the world will be the dwelling of Rational Men.