Top 47 Quotes & Sayings by Ingvar Kamprad

How the hell can I ask people who work for me to travel cheaply if I travel in luxury? It's a question of good leadership.

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

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

When the first million came in, I felt, 'My God, now I'm really independent.' That was a fantastic experience.

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

Normally, I try to get my haircut when I'm in a developing country. Last time, it was in Vietnam.

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

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

We have always looked at taxes as a cost, just as any other cost that comes with doing business.

An optimised tax structure gives us the possibility of flexibility in using our assets that have already been taxed in one market. They can be used in new markets for further business development without the additional burden of double taxation.

The company will never go to the market. We want to keep strict self-financing.

If we want to be cost-conscious, we should do it, not just talk about how cost-conscious we are.

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.

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.

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.

Everything we earn we need as a reserve.

I look at the money I'm about to spend on myself and ask if IKEA's customers could afford it.

It is in the nature of Smaland to be thrifty.

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

I decided that the stock market was not an option for IKEA. I knew that only a long-term perspective could secure our growth plans, and I didn't want IKEA to become dependent on financial institutions.

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.

I've paid an awful lot of lawyers to protect what I've built. I can only hope the money was well spent.

We don't need flashy cars, impressive titles, uniforms, or other status symbols. We rely on our strength and our will!

My theory was that good furniture could be priced so that the man with the flat wallet would be attracted to it, would make a place for it in his spending, and could afford it.

Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.

Simplicity and common sense should characterize planning and strategic direction.

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!

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

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.

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

Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Most things remain undone. Glorious future!

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.