Ingvar Kamprad

I’m not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don’t have time for dying.
– Ingvar Kamprad

Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.
– Ingvar Kamprad

What else could I do at 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

Now I have told you all I can. Can one get forgiveness for such stupidity?
– Ingvar Kamprad

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

It’s our duty to expand. Those who cannot or will not join us are to be pitied. We are on to a
glorious future.
– Ingvar Kamprad

A better everyday life means getting away from status and conventions – being freer and
more at ease as human beings.
– Ingvar Kamprad

Time is your most important resource. You can do so much in 10 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

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

People say I am cheap, and I don’t mind if they do.
– Ingvar Kamprad

Our idea is to serve everybody, including people with little money.
– Ingvar Kamprad

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

Happiness is not reaching your goal. Happiness is being on the way. It is our wonderful fate
to be just at the beginning.
– Ingvar Kamprad

It is better to be a bit stingy than throw money out of the window.
– Ingvar Kamprad

There are few people who have made so many fiascos in my life as I have.
– Ingvar Kamprad

If you want to maximize results, it’s not enough to preach. You have to set a good example.
– Ingvar Kamprad

Simplicity and common sense should characterize planning and strategic direction.
– Ingvar Kamprad

Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.
– Ingvar Kamprad

What is good for our customers is also in the long run good for us.
– Ingvar Kamprad

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

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.
– Ingvar Kamprad

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

We have to still develop the IKEA group. We need many billions of Swiss francs to take on
China or Russia.
– Ingvar Kamprad

We discuss too much and in doing so we lose touch with reality.
– Ingvar Kamprad

How the hell can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I am traveling in luxury? It’s
a question of good leadership.
– Ingvar Kamprad

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

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

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

The word impossible has been and remains deleted from our dictionary.
– Ingvar Kamprad

I’m stingy and I’m proud of the reputation.
– Ingvar Kamprad

Ikea people do not drive flashy cars or stay at luxury hotels.
– Ingvar Kamprad

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

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