My Life and Work (1923) Quotes
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Source: My Life and Work (1923)
Author: Henry Ford
Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.
Context
This line was written by Henry Ford in his autobiography My Life and Work (1923).
Henry Ford's autobiography, My Life and Work, is less about his life and more about his work—his business philosophies and strategies to success. As a result, it's chock full of quotes about business, and is the source of his most famous quotes.
Describing a day in 1909 when he announced that they would only be producing one model of car, the Model T, he said, "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." He spelled colour like that, but we have no idea if he said it with an affected British accent or not.
Where you've heard it
Henry Ford was to cars what Michael Kors is to fashion—you basically have one choice: black. So you've heard this quote if someone is talking about limited choices, or discussing business strategies.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
This quote ranks high on the pretentious meter simply because Ford, born in Michigan, chose to spell color as colour. Who does he think he is—Gwyneth Paltrow?