Karl Benz
A German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile.
Most quoted
"I had to create the world from scratch. I had to create the engine, the chassis, the steering, the brakes, the clutch, the transmission, the radiator, the fuel tank, the carburetor, the ignition, the spark plugs, the tires, the body, the seats, the lights, the horn, the speedometer, the odometer, the fuel gauge, the oil gauge, the water temperature gauge, the battery, the generator, the starter, the the the..."
— from Interview, 1886
"I have often been asked why I did not patent the automobile. My answer is simple: I did not invent the wheel, nor the engine, nor the chassis. I merely put them together in a way that had not been done before. To patent the whole would be like patenting a sandwich."
— from Attributed
"The greatest challenge was not building the car, but convincing people they needed one. They were perfectly content with their horses, bless their dusty souls."
— from Attributed
All quotes by Karl Benz (401)
A machine is only as good as the mind that conceived it and the hand that built it.
The first long-distance journey by automobile was not my achievement, but that of my brave wife.
Progress is a series of solved problems.
The steering must be to the car what the reins are to the horse—a direct and sensitive connection.
I did not invent the automobile. I invented the first practical automobile.
Curiosity is the engine of achievement.
Money was never the driving force; the driving force was the idea itself.
The world is moved by those who believe in the impossible.
Three wheels were enough to prove the principle; four wheels were necessary to build the future.
A technical object must have a certain beauty, the beauty of logical construction.
The most important component is the one that is missing—the doubt in the inventor's mind.
I built my first vehicle because I was dissatisfied with what existed.
The automobile will shrink the world.
An idea without execution is a hallucination.
The carburetor is the stomach of the engine.
My workshop was my kingdom.
The velocity of progress is increasing.
One must have the courage to be lonely in one's convictions.
The road is the best test track.
I never designed a machine that I did not intend to build with my own hands.
Contemporaries of Karl Benz
Other Engineerings born within 50 years of Karl Benz (1844–1929).