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The thieves may be able to follow the design plans and produce a loom. But we are modifying and improving our looms every day. They do not have the expertise gained from the failures it took to produce the original. We need not be concerned. We need only continue as always, making our improvements.

— Kiichiro Toyoda

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Notes from Wikiquote

Comment by Kiichiro Toyoda after thieves had stolen the plans for a new loom from his father's workshop.

More quotes by Kiichiro Toyoda

Before you say you can't do something, try it.

My father served the State by investing a weaving machine. He told me to make automobiles. It is difficult to create an automobile industry.

Kiichiro Toyoda cited in: Ethiopia: Trade and Economic Review (1969)

[The Japanese auto industry should] catch up with America in three years. Otherwise the Japanese auto industry will never stand on its own.

Kiichiro Toyoda (1945)

Japan has a lot of engineers who work at desks. When it comes to implementation, though, they lose confidence and haven't got the courage of their convictions when other people criticize them. Engineers like that can't build cars. Success in this industry demands engineers who have the courage and the decisiveness to implement ideas.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Kiichiro Toyoda (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.