Henry Ford

The best way to make money in business is not to think too much about making it.

A peaceful nation is one that has the means to make war and restrains.

Competition whose motive is merely to compete, to drive some other fellow out, never carries very far.

I’d like to devote about three years to the elimination of the cow. There’s not reason in the world why the chemist can’t discover the cow’s secret of converting vegetation into dairy products. And there’s less reason why the chemist can’t do a better job of it after he learns how.

You’ve got to teach youngsters the difference between right and wrong, but you shouldn’t try to poke it down their throats. Let them ask the questions and then give them the answers.

President Hoover has done everything any one could do to bring about improvement in business and industry. Everything President Hoover has advised or tried to put into effect has been sound.

We’’ve designed swimming pools that turn into ballrooms, and fitted security devices that fill a garage with gas if someone is stealing your car.

About half my time is spent on business operation type stuff.

A nation that knows how to work will never suffer.

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

There is no need for advertisements to look like advertisements. If you make them look like editorial pages, you will attract about 50 per cent more readers.

The Golden Rule finds no limit of application in business.

The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves. but they can get very excited by those who do. That is why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest, the greatest and the most spectacular.

I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer.

Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.

As members of the Ford Motor organization we are engaged in the production of an article of use for the people of all countries. Our principle is to make our work as profitable for the buyer as for the seller.

I never went to business school. I was just bumbling through a lot of my life. I was like the guy behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz.

I believe in benevolent dictatorship provided I am the dictator.

If I had to think where I could live if not Moscow, London would be my first choice and second would be New York.

Entrepreneurs are always taking feedback, especially from their customers, bankers, workers, and sales force. Without straightforward feedback, entrepreneurs cannot make sound decisions.

The golden rule for every businessman is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place.