Quotes & anectdotes from
the wise,
the foolish,
the courageous &
the drunk

Henry Ford Industrialist

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Jul 30, 1863
  • Died: Apr 7, 1947

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.

Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents.

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.

I do not believe a man can ever leave his business. He ought to think of it by day and dream of it by night.

Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs.

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.

I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done.

The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.

Don't find fault, find a remedy.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.

Coming together is a beginning keeping together is progress working together is success.

Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.

Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.

There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.

Money is like an arm or leg - use it or lose it.

The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability.

It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.

Speculation is only a word covering the making of money out of the manipulation of prices, instead of supplying goods and services.

We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's dam is the history we make today.

A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very quickly saturated with a bad one.

It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.

As we advance in life we learn the limits of our abilities.

The highest use of capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life.

Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.

History is more or less bunk.

A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.