Thomas J. Watson Sr.

"Opportunities pass people by every day because they don't recognize them when they arrive."

"The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it."

"The real problem is never really the problem. The problem is always your attitude about the problem."

"Time is not money—time is results."

"Do not fear failure; fear mediocrity."

"The value of an idea lies in the using of it."

"To be informed is to be forearmed."

"A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits: They will be embarrassingly large."

"The thought which we hold is the only thing which can have any effect whatsoever in our lives."

"Yesterday's success formula is often today's obsolescence."

"The competent leader of people understands that the human being always reacts to encouragement."

"We must take care not to make the intellect our god."

"The great advances of civilization have never come from the masses."

"To achieve excellence, you must care deeply for what you do."

"Loyalty is a two-way street; it goes both up and down."

"The most important person in the room is often the one who says the least."

"Success requires a willingness to be misunderstood."

"Ideas without action are merely dreams."

"The path to success is paved with small victories."

"A leader's greatest asset is the trust of their people."

"Knowledge without application is waste."

"The future is not something that happens to you; it is something you create."

"Tradition should be a guide, not a cage."

"To understand a man's heart, first understand what he values most."

"The organization that learns fastest will win."

"Success is walking from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

"Never underestimate the power of a simple 'thank you'."

"The secret of getting ahead is staying ahead of your thinking."

"Money is only a means to an end; the end is what matters."

"Courage is not the absence of fear; it is action despite fear."