Henry Ford Quotes

Below are Henry Ford quotes. Some quotes are from the early life of Henry Ford. Others are from later in Henry Ford's life.

Henry Ford Quotes: on Farming

"I have followed many a weary mile behind a plow and I know all the drudgery of it."

Henry Ford preferred to tinker with anything mechanical rather than leading the life on a farm. Henry Ford would fix watches, repair tools, take his toys apart and rebuild them again. Throughout his life, Henry Ford had always been fascinated by anything to help him understand how things worked.

Henry Ford Quotes: on racing his car on ice

 "I shall never forget that race. The ice was seamed with fissures, and at every fissure the car leaped into the air. I never knew how it was coming down. When I wasn't in the air I was skidding; but somehow I stayed top side up and on the course, making a record that went all over the world."

Henry Ford Quotes: on Ford Model T

 "The way to make automobiles is to make one automobile like another automobile." 

The Ford Model T changed the world. The Tin Lizzie, as Henry Ford 's Model T was affectionately called, marked the end of the horse and buggy. Now, cars were no longer the privilege of the special, wealthy class. Henry Ford made cars for ordinary people, for the working class, for those who had never sat in one before, much less owned one.

Henry Ford Quotes: on able employees

Henry Ford had an uncanny ability to recognize and protect men of extraordinary talent who could help further his business. Once Henry Ford hired an efficiency expert to evaluate the company, and the expert made a favorable report with the exception of one employee.

• "It's about the man down the corridor,"
• "Every time I go by his office, he's just sitting there with his feet on his desk. He's wasting your money."
• "That man once had an idea that saved us millions of dollars. At the time, I believe his feet were planted right where they are now."

Henry Ford Quotes: Henry Ford and his work

He said: "The work must go to the man, not the man to the work."

Henry Ford once commented: "The average man won't really do a day's work unless he is caught and can't get out of it." 

Henry Ford Quotes: Henry Ford and his fame and money

When a reporter asked Henry Ford "What's the worst thing about being rich?" Ford, responded, "Mrs. Ford doesn't cook anymore."

His slogan, which became popular throughout the world, was "Get the boys out of the trenches by Christmas."

Later Henry Ford commented: "I didn't get much peace, but I learned that Russia is going to be a great market for tractors."

"History is more or less bunk. It's tradition. 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."