Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.

This maxim is widely attributed to Henry Ford in connection with his public advocacy of self-confidence, initiative, and the “can-do” mindset associated with early 20th‑century American industrial culture. It circulates heavily in motivational literature and business advice, often framed as reflecting Ford’s belief that attitude and expectation shape performance. However, despite the strength of the attribution in popular culture, the quotation is frequently presented without a verifiable contemporaneous citation to Ford’s speeches, writings, or interviews, and it is commonly treated by quotation scholars as a “floating” Fordism whose precise first appearance in print is uncertain.

The saying argues that belief about one’s capacity strongly influences results: confidence can enable persistence, creativity, and risk-taking, while defeatism can become self-fulfilling by discouraging effort and narrowing perceived options. Its force lies in the symmetry—“can” and “can’t” both lead to being “right”—which frames success and failure as partly determined by internal conviction rather than external conditions alone. Read critically, it is less a claim that attitude magically overrides reality than a pragmatic observation about motivation and behavior: expectations shape decisions, and decisions shape outcomes. In business contexts, it also serves as a managerial credo encouraging agency and resilience.

1) “Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.”
2) “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”
3) “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.”