Henry Ford

The remains of the old must be decently laid away; the path of the new prepared. That is the difference between Revolution and Progress.

Machines were devised not to do a man out of a job, but to take the heavy labor from man’s back and place it on the broad back of the machine.

I will build a motor car for the great multitude – constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. 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.

This is the only reason Greenfield Village exists-to give us a sense of unity with our people through the generations, and to convey the inspiration of American genius to our young men. As a nation we have not depended so much on rare or occasional genius as on the general resourcefulness of our people. That is our true genius, and I am hoping that Greenfield Village will serve that.

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

The best way is always the simplest. The attics of the world are cluttered up with complicated failures.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

All this is only for the mice and myself to admire!

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.

It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or the fourteenth.

Most fashionable commodity in US is going to be old-fashioned common sense and work.

He who is not busy being born is busy dying.

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.

And I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinking.

Youth should not be slandered. Boy nature and girl nature are less repressed and therefore more wholesome today than before. If they at times seem unimpressed by their elders, it is probably because we make a matter of authority what should be a matter of conference. These young people are new people sent to this scene by Destiny to take our places. They come with new visions to fulfill, new powers to exploit.

Success means different things in different parts of my life, but overall if I have to define ultimately what success means – the bottom line – then for me it’s if the family is healthy and happy.

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.

This is your life and the clock is ticking.

The remains of the old must be decently laid away; the path of the new prepared. That is the difference between Revolution and Progress.

Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform.

As I get older, I just prefer to knit.