James Dyson

“Arbitrary benchmarks cheat kids out of a fulfilling education.”

“Well, air-conditioning is not a good thing.”

“I don't particularly follow the Bauhaus school of design, where you make everything into a black box - simplify it.”

“Goodness, I know nothing about nuclear energy.”

“Stumbling upon the next great invention in an 'ah-ha!' moment is a myth.”

“We need to encourage investors to invest in high-technology startups.”

“I think the search engines are the new equivalent of publishing: an enabler of information.”

“You don't get inspiration sitting at a drawing board or in front of your computer.”

“People will make leaps of faith and get excited by your product if you just get it in front of them.”

“I've obviously used fans - I wouldn't say all my life, because we couldn't afford them when I was young, but from my 20s and onwards we've had to use fans. And I've always loathed them. Everything about them. The way you adjust them, getting them at the angle you want. Carrying them. Cleaning them. The danger of putting your finger in them.”

“I was frustrated as a child when I had to use a vacuum. It had a screaming noise and the smell of stale dog and a lack of performance.”

“China can and will be an invaluable trading partner to both the U.S. and the U.K.”

“I don't design down to a price.”

“When decisions on nuclear power stations and runways are delayed and the government dilly-dallies, people think they aren't important.”

“If robots are to clean our homes, they'll have to do it better than a person.”

“Fear is always a good motivator.”

“In the digital age of 'overnight' success stories such as Facebook, the hard slog is easily overlooked.”

“As a modern employer you have to treat people well.”

“My interest in film is sort of catholic - apart from science fiction and horror movies, I'll watch almost everything.”

“I'm not into politics but I am committed to a cause: ensuring design technology and engineering stays on the U.K. curriculum, alongside science and maths - grounding abstract theory, merging the practical with the academic.”