Observations placeholder
Henry Ford - And reincarnation
Identifier
014763
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.
Although Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line, he developed and manufactured the first 'affordable' automobile. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century. As owner of the Ford Motor Company, he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world.
He is not, one has to say, a tower of spiritual ideals. Not only did he promote massive consumerism 'as the key to peace', he also published anti-semitic texts. On the other hand, Ford was widely known for his pacifism during the first years of World War I, so he is a very strange and odd conundrum.
But he had an interesting thing to say about reincarnation, which is worth including on the site.
I couldn't decide how to classify him as a source, but in the end I plumped for the scientific category
A description of the experience
Henry Ford - San Francisco Examiner from August 26, 1928
I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six. Religion offered nothing to the point. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction.
Work is futile if we cannot utilise the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan I realised that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock.
Genius is experience.
Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more.
The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease. If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men’s minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.