Ingvar Kamprad Quotations

I'm stingy and I'm proud of the reputation.

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.

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

We ought to have more women in various management positions, because women are the ones who decide almost everything in the home

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

I am very proud to follow the rules of our company.

I'm not afraid of turning 80 and I have lots of things to do. I don't have time for dying.

People say I am cheap, and I don't mind if they do.

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

Everything we earn we need as a reserve.

I bought seeds for the garden and had great success with it, going around to all the houses in my village. After that year I could buy myself my first bicycle.

People say I am cheap and I don't mind if they do. But I am very proud to follow the rules of our company.

Making mistakes is the privilege of the active - of those who can correct their mistakes and put them right.

How can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I am traveling in luxury?

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

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.

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.

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.

It was our duty to expand. Those who cannot or will not join us are to be pitied. What we want to do, we can do and will do, together. A glorious future!

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.

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

Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.

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

Time is your most important resource. You can do so much in ten minutes. Ten minutes; once gone is gone for good.

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.

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.

Simplicity and common sense should characterize planning and strategic direction.

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.. 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.

Most things remain undone. Glorious future!

The word impossible has been and must remain deleted from our dictionary,

Happiness is not reaching your goal. Happiness is being on the way.

The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.

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.

Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.