Looking for the best Ingvar Kamprad quotes?
The Swedish business magnate best known for founding IKEA was an extremely inspirational man.
IKEA has been the world’s largest furniture retailer since at least 2008 thanks to Kamprad’s excellent leadership and clear business values.
Ingvar Kamprad passed away at the age of 91 on 27 January 2018. He was regarded as one of the richest men in the world at the time of his death. Bloomberg estimated his net worth to be a staggering $58.7 billion.
As you’ll see from the famous Ingvar Kamprad quotes below he was a man of great self-awareness and clarity. He also wasn’t afraid of making mistakes – an attribute that all entrepreneurs should adopt if they want to be successful.
37 Best Ingvar Kamprad Quotes
1. “Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.” – Ingvar Kamprad
2. “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. A company that feels it has reached its goal will quickly stagnate and lose its vitality.” – Ingvar Kamprad
3. “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
4. “The word impossible has been and must remain deleted from our dictionary.” – Ingvar Kamprad
5. “Time is your most important resource. You can do so much in ten minutes’ time. Ten minutes, once gone, are gone for good. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activity.” – Ingvar Kamprad (This is the famous Ingvar Kamprad quote on 10 minutes of time, also known as Ingvars Law.)
6. “What is good for our customers is also in the long run good for us.” – Ingvar Kamprad
7. “I’m not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don’t have time for dying.” – Ingvar Kamprad
8. “Happiness is not reaching your goal. Happiness is being on the way.” – Ingvar Kamprad
9. “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
10. “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.” – Ingvar Kamprad
11. “People say I am cheap, and I don’t mind if they do.” – Ingvar Kamprad
12. “I’m stingy and I’m proud of the reputation.” – Ingvar Kamprad
13. “It is our duty to expand. Those who cannot or will not join us are to be pitied.” – Ingvar Kamprad
14. “Creativity and believing in your work is absolutely a necessary part of success.” – Ingvar Kamprad
15. “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
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.”Simple routines 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. We rely on our strength and our will!” – Ingvar Kamprad
20. “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” – Ingvar Kamprad
21. “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
22. “It is better to be a bit stingy than throw money out of the window.” – Ingvar Kamprad
23. “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
24. “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
25. “A better everyday life means getting away from status and conventions — being freer and more at ease as human beings.” – Ingvar Kamprad
26. “We ought to have more women in various management positions, because women are the ones who decide almost everything in the home.” – Ingvar Kamprad
27. “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
28. “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
29. “To design a desk which may cost $1,000 is easy for a furniture designer but to design a functional and good desk which shall cost only $50 can only be done by the very best.” – Ingvar Kamprad
30. “Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.” – Ingvar Kamprad
31. “How the hell can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I am travelling in luxury? It’s a question of good leadership.” – Ingvar Kamprad
32. “I see my task as serving the majority of people. The question is, how do you find out what they want, how best to serve them? My answer is to stay close to ordinary people because, at heart, I am one of them.” – Ingvar Kamprad
33. “I feel many responsibilities – to our customers, to our employees, to the environment, to the world at large. But I don’t want to feel responsible to investors, to outsiders with financial concerns that may differ from those of the welfare of IKEA.” – Ingvar Kamprad
34. “I could regularly travel first class, but having money in abundance doesn’t seem like a good reason to waste it. Why should I choose first class? To be offered a glass of champagne from the air hostess? If it helped me arrive at my destination more quickly, then maybe.” – Ingvar Kamprad
35. “When the first million came in, I felt, ‘My God, now I’m really independent.’ That was a fantastic experience.” – Ingvar Kamprad
36. “What else could I do with my age? Grow tomatoes in an allotment behind the house? I don’t know how to do anything apart from sell furniture. I am your classic specialized idiot.” – Ingvar Kamprad
37. “Everything we earn we need as a reserve. We have to still develop the IKEA group. We need many billions of Swiss francs to take on China or Russia.” – Ingvar Kamprad
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