Quotes by Thomas J. Watson

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

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“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 ...”

“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...”

“Within us all there are wells of thought and dynamos of energy which are not suspected until emergencies arise. Then oftentimes we find that it is comparatively simple to double or triple our forme...”

“We hear of a silent generation more concerned with security than integrity with conforming than performing with imitating than creating.”

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

“Good design is good business.”

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

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

“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.”

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

“We hear of a silent generation more concerned with security than integrity with conforming than performing with imitating than creating.”

“If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”

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

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”