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.

— Thomas J. Watson

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

— Thomas J. Watson

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.

— 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.

— Thomas J. Watson

Good design is good business.

— Thomas J. Watson

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.

— Thomas J. Watson

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

— Thomas J. Watson

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

— Thomas J. Watson

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?

— Thomas J. Watson

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.

— Thomas J. Watson