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Quote by Christian Humberg

“When Ole Kirk Kristiansen established the company name LEGO in 1934, it was a fortunate play on words. The entrepreneur had been inspired by the Danish phrase "leg godt" - "play well." He took the beginning of each respective word and made what he considered to be a pleasant-sounding, imaginary word out of them. The company owner was unaware that as the first person present singular of the verb legere, "lego" is also the Latin word for "I assemble" - and therefore completely appropriate for the modularity of the company's later invention, the LEGO brick.”

Quote by Christian Humberg

Book:50 Years of the Lego Brick
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50 Years of the Lego Brick

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Christian Humberg

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“De-a lungul existenței am ajuns la mai multe opinii datorită profesiei mele, dar de fiecare dată mă simțeam ca un copil în fața unui ”lego”. Știți că aceste jocuri de construcții sunt însoțite de un carnețel de modele și simțeam mereu o satisfacție copilărească să copiez cât mai fidel posibil figurile, în același timp propuse, dar și hotărâte dinainte. Cu toate acestea, carnețelul de tipare, ca și viața, continua totodată să-mi sugereze și alte posibilități care ținteau mai departe. Este ceea ce n-am încetat niciodată să caut în jurul meu, în munca mea de zi cu zi și nici mai târziu la bătrânețe, atunci când n-am mai avut acces la construcțiile obișnuite. [...] Din păcate, problema insurmontabilă era că nu puteam renunța la piesele jocului, căci constituiau singura materie primă de care dispune omul dornic să construiască. Ele sunt însă astfel concepute - având în vedere însăși structura lor - încât să nu le poți folosi decât pentru modelele din carnețel, chiar și atunci când nu le mai ai în față.”

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“The boys just wanted to light the oven, but they ended up burning down the whole business and the family home. The children were saved, but the Ole Kirk Kristiansen's future looked bleak. Ole Kirk was a religious man; his optimism and sense of humour were well-known far beyond the local boundaries. Where others would have folded their hands in their laps and accepted their fate, he did not give up. With the courage born of desperation, he rebuilt his business on a larger and more expensive scale than it had been previously - and more so than he could afford: Many rooms had to be sublet, and the Kristiansens themselves only used a small part of the building. Apprentices were no longer paid, but received board and lodging instead. Life continued, somehow.”

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Book:50 Years of the Lego Brick
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“In economics, models are spoken of as being made of physics when in truth they are made of Lego. They have that degree of provisionality and tentativeness and, importantly, rebuildability. There's a permanent invitation to take them apart and put them together again in a form that works better.”

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