My Life and Work

My Life and Work, by Henry
Ford

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Title: My Life and Work
Author: Henry Ford
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Language: English
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MY LIFE AND WORK
By Henry Ford
In Collaboration With Samuel Crowther

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION--WHAT IS THE IDEA?
I. THE BEGINNING
II. WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BUSINESS
III. STARTING THE REAL BUSINESS
IV. THE SECRET OF MANUFACTURING AND SERVING
V. GETTING INTO PRODUCTION

VI. MACHINES AND MEN
VII. THE TERROR OF THE MACHINE.
VIII. WAGES
IX. WHY NOT ALWAYS HAVE GOOD BUSINESS?
X. HOW CHEAPLY CAN THINGS BE MADE?
XI. MONEY AND GOODS
XII. MONEY--MASTER OR SERVANT?
XIII. WHY BE POOR?
XIV. THE TRACTOR AND POWER FARMING
XV. WHY CHARITY?
XVI. THE RAILROADS
XVII. THINGS IN GENERAL
XVIII. DEMOCRACY AND INDUSTRY
XIX. WHAT WE MAY EXPECT.
INDEX

INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS THE IDEA?
We have only started on our development of our country--we have not
as yet, with all our talk of wonderful progress, done more than scratch
the surface. The progress has been wonderful enough--but when we
compare what we have done with what there is to do, then our past

accomplishments are as nothing. When we consider that more power is
used merely in ploughing the soil than is used in all the industrial
establishments of the country put together, an inkling comes of how
much opportunity there is ahead. And now, with so many countries of
the world in ferment and with so much unrest every where, is an
excellent time to suggest something of the things that may be done in
the light of what has been done.
When one speaks of increasing power, machinery, and industry there
comes up a picture of a cold, metallic sort of world in which great
factories will drive away the trees, the flowers, the birds, and the green
fields. And that then we shall have a world composed of metal
machines and human machines. With all of that I do not agree. I think
that unless we know more about machines and their use, unless we
better understand the mechanical portion of life, we cannot have the
time to enjoy the trees, and the birds, and the flowers, and the green
fields.
I think that we have already done too much toward banishing the
pleasant things from life by thinking that there is some opposition
between living and providing the means of living. We waste so much
time and energy that we have little left over in which to enjoy
ourselves.
Power and machinery, money and goods, are useful only as they set us
free to live. They are but means to an end. For instance, I do not
consider the machines which bear my name simply as machines. If that
was all there was to it I would do something else. I take them as
concrete evidence of the working out of a theory of business, which I
hope is something more than a theory of business--a theory that looks
toward making this world a better place in which to live. The fact that
the commercial success of the Ford Motor Company has been most
unusual is important only because it serves to demonstrate, in a way
which no one can fail to understand, that the theory to date is right.
Considered solely in this light I can criticize the prevailing system of
industry and the organization of money and society from the standpoint
of one who has not been beaten by them. As things are now organized,

I could, were I thinking only selfishly, ask for no