Henry Ford

Thinking calls for facts; facts are found by digging; but he who has gathered this wealth is well equipped for life.

There is no failure except failure to serve one’s purpose.

There should be rivalry between men and between business.

Poetry without music may be beautiful, but music gives poetry wings and elevates it into song. That may be the reason for our love of song-it has wings and lifts us; with proper songs, it is a nourishing spiritual exercise.

Idleness is the reason for many of our troubles.

There should be no unemployment. There is large percentage of labor now which cannot make a living because wages are not high enough. That is industry’s 2nd job. 1st job is to make good product. 2nd pay a good wage.

This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.

[To his ex-entertainment lawyer Eric Eisner who resigned from the presidency of The David Geffen Company in 1991 just as a deal was about to be made with some Japanese] Keep your stock. [Eric sold it.]

The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.

The keystone of successful business is cooperation. Friction retards progress.

I always said that mega-mergers were for megalomaniacs.

We have had just one main purpose during these years, and that is to give the people transportation of the most dependable quality at the lowest possible cost. Our car was called the Universal Car thirty years ago, because it fulfilled so many needs; it is The Universal Car today for the same reason.

Burdening people with debt is an old deal not a new deal.

Many people – and I think I am one of them – are more productive when they’ve had a little to drink. I find if I drink two or three brandies, I’m far better able to write.

No king on earth is as safe in his job as a Trade Union official. There is only one thing that can get him sacked; and that is drink. Not even that, as long as he doesn’t actually fall down.

I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.

As a rule, we find what we look for; we achieve what we get ready for.

Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.

I think shareholders are the great evil of this modern world.

My motto is: Always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.

The relationship between a manufacturer and his advertising agency is almost as intimate as the relationship between a patient and his doctor. Make sure that you can life happily with your prospective client before you accept his account.