Quotes
36 Quotes By The Self Made Billionaire Ingvar Kamprad
Ingvar Kamprad, is the Swedish business magnet and founder of Ikea who was once ranked the eighth richest man in the world with a networth around $43.2 billion dollars. He gave a lot of his money away and last time Forbes checked in with Ingvar his networth was estimated to be around $6 Billion.
He is often criticised because he cares for the environment and would rather catch public transport to and from work each day. The critics don’t get to Ingvar though, he can sleep at night knowing that he is making a difference and is not just in it for the money.
Ingvar Kamprad shares 36 quotes on simplicity, enthusiasm and frugality.
1. “Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.” – Ingvar Kamprad
2. “I could have an office all to myself but since my collaborators don’t have one, then I too am contented to have a desk in a shared room.” – Ingvar Kamprad
3. “What is good for our customers is also in the long run good for us.” – Ingvar Kamprad
4. “Making mistakes is the privilege of the active. It is always the mediocre people who are negative, who spend their time proving that they were not wrong.” – Ingvar Kamprad
5. “People say I am cheap, and I don’t mind if they do.” – Ingvar Kamprad
6. “The word impossible has been and must remain deleted from our dictionary” – Ingvar Kamprad
7. “I’m stingy and I’m proud of the reputation.” – Ingvar Kamprad
8. “I’m not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don’t have time for dying.” – Ingvar Kamprad
9. “Ten minutes are not just one-sixth of your hourly pay; ten minutes is a piece of yourself. Divide yourself into ten units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activities. Most things still remain to be done.” – Ingvar Kamprad
10. “It is our duty to expand. Those who cannot or will not join us are to be pitied.” – Ingvar Kamprad
11. “Time is your most important resource. You can do so much in ten minutes. Ten minutes; once gone is gone for good.” – Ingvar Kamprad
12. “Creativity and believing in your work is absolutely a necessary part of success.” – Ingvar Kamprad
13. “IKEA is not completely perfect. It irritates me to hear it said that IKEA is the best company in the world. We are going the right way to becoming it but we are not there yet.” – Ingvar Kamprad
14. “I’m a bit tight with money, but so what? I look at the money I’m about to spend on myself and ask myself if IKEA’s customers can afford it… I could regularly travel first class, but having money in abundance doesn’t seem like a good reason to waste it.” – Ingvar Kamprad
15. “Everything we earn we need as a reserve.” – Ingvar Kamprad
16. “The IKEA spirit is strong and living reality. Simplicity in our behavior gives us strength. Simplicity and humbleness characterize us in our relations with each others, our suppliers and our customers.” – Ingvar Kamprad
17. “If there is such a thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example. I have to do so for all the IKEA employees.” – Ingvar Kamprad
18. “Simplicity and common sense should characterize planning and strategic direction.” – Ingvar Kamprad
19. “Happiness is not reaching your goal. Happiness is being on the way.” – Ingvar Kamprad
20. “Simple routine have a greater impact. It is not just to cut costs that we avoid luxury hotels. We do not need fancy cars, posh titles, tailor made uniforms or other status symbols.” – Ingvar Kamprad
21. “How can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I am traveling in luxury?” – Ingvar Kamprad
22. “We have to still develop the IKEA group. We need many billions of Swiss francs to take on China or Russia. Making mistakes is the privilege of the active – of those who can correct their mistakes and put them right.” – Ingvar Kamprad
24. “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” – Ingvar Kamprad
25. “If you want to maximize results, it’s not enough to simply preach – you have to set a good example. I am very proud to follow the rules of our company.” – Ingvar Kamprad
26. “It is better to be a bit stingy than throw money out of the window.” – Ingvar Kamprad
27. “A company that feels it has reached its goal will quickly stagnate and lose its vitality.” – Ingvar Kamprad
28. “The feeling of having finished something is an effective sleeping pill. A person who retires feeling that he has done his bit will quickly wither away.” – Ingvar Kamprad
29. “I know that, if need be, there are those who correct my mistakes. If you only knew how many of them I’ve made.” – Ingvar Kamprad
30. “To do business with a clear conscience is an attitude that pays. We have to find more time for ourselves and to regain respect for the environment in which we live.” – Ingvar Kamprad
31. “A better everyday life means getting away from status and conventions — being freer and more at ease as human beings.” – Ingvar Kamprad
32. “We still have a long way to go—or as I have written so many times, and said at the end of hundreds of speeches: We are just at the beginning. A glorious future!” – Ingvar Kamprad
33. “We ought to have more women in various management positions, because women are the ones who decide almost everything in the home.” – Ingvar Kamprad
34. “Our idea is to serve everybody, including people with little money.” – Ingvar Kamprad
35. “Being humble isn’t the same as keeping a low profile. If you have something important to say, say it. Being humble means admitting your weaknesses, and trying to put them right.” – Ingvar Kamprad
36. “We claim that we don’t need status symbols. What we really mean by that is that setting a good example should be the manager’s most persuasive quality.” – Ingvar Kamprad