Thomas J. Watson

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.

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?

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

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

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

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

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.

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

The way to succeed is to double your error rate.

Success is on the far side of failure.