Dean Kamen
21 quotes
Biography
Dean Lawrence Kamen is an American engineer, inventor, and businessman. He is known for his invention of the Segway and iBOT, as well as founding the non-profit organization FIRST with Woodie Flowers.
"Life is so short. Why waste a single day of it doing something that doesn't matter, that doesn't try to do something big?"
"You can make it out of Unobtainium!"
"Some broad themes brought me where I am today. At a very young age, my hobby became thinking and finding connections."
"The city needs a car like a fish needs a bicycle."
"I think an education is not only important, it is the most important thing you can do with your life."
"My biggest failure is I have too many to talk about."
"Everybody has to be able to participate in a future that they want to live for. That's what technology can do."
"If history is any indication, all truths will eventually turn out to be false."
"I'd rather lose my own money than someone else's."
"An innovation is one of those things that society looks at and says, if we make this part of the way we live and work, it will change the way we live and work."
"In some cases, inventions prohibit innovation because we're so caught up in playing with the technology, we forget about the fact that it was supposed to be important."
"New ideas in technology are literally a dime-a-dozen, or cheaper than that."
"Everybody has to be able to participate in a future that they want to live for. That's what technology can do."
"You have teenagers thinking they're going to make millions as NBA stars when that's not realistic for even 1 percent of them. Becoming a scientist or engineer is."
"Sporting competitions seem to be what we obsess over, frankly. So if we can put engineering, science, technology into a format of healthy, fun competition, we can attract all sorts of kids that might not see the kind of activity we do as accessible or rewarding."
"My father spent his entire early career as an illustrator for comic books: EC Comics like 'Tales from the Crypt' and 'Creepshow,' then moving on to such magazines as 'Mad' and 'Weird Science.'"
"Nothing that has value, real value, has no cost. Not freedom, not food, not shelter, not healthcare."
"Innovation is so hard and so frustrating; it takes the intersections of people with courage, vision, and resources."
"Every once in a while, a new technology, an old problem, and a big idea turn into an innovation."
"Get used to dealing with failure as long as it doesn't hurt people around you, as long as it doesn't hurt you physically, or it doesn't hurt you so much that you can't pick yourself up."
"Nobody expects that just because they've made computers better they're going to give them to you free."