Thomas J. Watson's Quotes

Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time.

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.

All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work.

The way to succeed is to double your error rate.

Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.

Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.

Don't make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up.

Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.

The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of 'crackpot' than the stigma of conformity.

Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.

To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.

If you aren't playing well, the game isn't as much fun. When that happens I tell myself just to go out and play as I did when I was a kid.

The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.

A manager is an assistant to his men.

Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people.

Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new.

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.

If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.

You don't hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news.

You can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes, make all you can. Because, remember that's where you'll find success - on the far side of failure.

Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?