Henry Ford
An American industrialist who founded the Ford Motor Company and developed the assembly line technique of mass production.
Most quoted
"I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one—and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."
— from Statement to his engineers, often quoted as a personal philosophy, 1909
"Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward."
— from My Life and Work, 1922
"I do not believe in the theory that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I believe that the rich are getting richer because they are working harder and the poor are getting poorer because they are not working hard enough."
— from Attributed
All quotes by Henry Ford (182)
The secret of success is to understand the other fellow's viewpoint and see things from his angle as well as your own.
There are no big problems, there are only many small problems.
The more you learn, the more you earn.
I believe in the power of the individual to make a difference.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.
You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others, who think that the world owes them a living. They don't seem to see that we must all lift together and pull together.
The air is full of ideas. They are knocking you in the head all the time. You only have to know what you want, then forget it, and go about your business. Suddenly, the idea will come through. It was there all the time.
I cannot discover that anyone knows enough to say definitely what is and what is not possible.
Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.
Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.
The human brain is like a freight car – guaranteed to have a certain capacity, but you can never fill it. The more you put into it, the more it will hold.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – and possibly the man who doesn't know his product.
The greatest thing we can produce is men. All else can be taken from us, but men remain.
I will build a motor car for the great multitude... so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one.
We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today.
There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail.
The object of living is work, experience, happiness. There is joy in work. All that money can do is buy us some one else's work in exchange for our own. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you.
You don't have to hold a position in order to be a leader.
Contemporaries of Henry Ford
Other Engineerings born within 50 years of Henry Ford (1863–1947).