Henry Ford (1863–1947) was an American automobile industrialist and pioneer of large-scale mass production. He had a profound influence on the widespread use of motor vehicles. One of his key innovations, the moving assembly line, is the epitome of modern manufacturing.
Born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, Ford initially worked as a machine-shop apprentice, traction car operator, and engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. He developed a gas-engine car in 1892, founded Ford Motor Company in 1903, and designed the Model T in 1908.
Inspired by Chicago’s meat-processing industry, Ford introduced a moving assembly line in 1913. It revolutionized industrial mass production. Ford then raised the minimum wage to $5 a day and reduced the workday to eight hours. Ford’s innovations ushered not just the automobile but also a wide variety of consumer goods to the mass market, opening the door to modern consumer culture.
Ford became infamous for his virulent anti-Semitic outlook, which he disseminated through his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. His leadership style was increasingly domineering; his anti-unionism caused labor violence at Ford plants during the Great Depression.
In later life, Ford withdrew from the day-to-day leadership of the Ford Motor Company and lived reclusively on his 2,000-acre Dearborn estate. He pursued many philanthropic projects, including Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital and the Ford Foundation.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Henry Ford
Profit is a by-product of work; happiness is its chief product.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Happiness
Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Mistakes
What we call evil, it seems to me, is simply ignorance bumping its head in the dark.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Evil
A man given to pride is usually proud of the wrong thing.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Pride
You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. With it, there is accomplishment. Without it there are only alibis.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Attitude, Determination, Enthusiasm
Money doesn’t change men, it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish or arrogant or greedy, the money brings that out, that is all.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Money
It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Waste, Time Management, Time
Think you can, think you can’t; either way, you’ll be right.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Optimism, Positive Attitudes
Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Think, Right, Virtues, Belief, Ability
There is one rule for industrialists and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Industry, Quality
He who would really benefit mankind must reach them through their work.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Work
Asking “who ought to be the boss” is like asking “who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?” Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Leadership
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.
—Henry Ford
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Time Management, Simplicity, Work, Action, General, One Step at a Time, Jobs
One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Fear, Discovery
There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Potential
Money is like an arm or leg—use it or lose it.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Money
If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Knowledge, Independence
The question Who ought to be boss? is like as Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet? Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Ability
There are two ways of making yourself stand out from the crowd. One is by having a job so big you can go home before the bell rings if you want to. The other is by finding so much to do that you must stay after the others have gone. The one who enjoys the former once took advantage of the latter.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Work
Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Problems
Don’t find fault. Find a remedy.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Mistakes, Faults, Action, Problem-solving
You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Character, Reputation, Execution, Ambition, Action
Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Business
If there is any great secret of success in life, it lies in the ability to put yourself in the other person’s place and to see things from his point of view—as well as your own.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Success
My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Friendship, Friend, Best
If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Teamwork
To do more for the world than the world does for you—that is success.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Helping
Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Justice, Crime
Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
—Henry Ford
Topics: Quality, One liners, Integrity
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