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Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom.

Sam Walton

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Sam Walton
Age: 74 †
Born: 1918
Born: March 29
Died: 1992
Died: April 5
Businessman
Businessperson
Economist
Entrepreneur
Kingfisher
Oklahoma
Samuel Moore Walton
Upstream
Conventional
Ignore
Swim
Wisdom
Way

More quotes by Sam Walton

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I probably have traveled and walked into more variety stores than anybody in America. I am just trying to get ideas, any kind of ideas that will help our company. Most of us don't invent ideas. We take the best ideas from someone else.
Sam Walton
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The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.
Sam Walton
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High expectations are the key to everything.
Sam Walton
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One thing my and mother and dad shared completely was their approach to money - they just didn't spend it.
Sam Walton
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Leaders must always put their people before themselves. If you do that, your business will take care of itself.
Sam Walton
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I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don't know if you're born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it.
Sam Walton
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Job security lasts only as long as the customer is satisfied. Nobody owes anybody else a living.
Sam Walton
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Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners. In turn, they will treat you as a partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations.
Sam Walton
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Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish.
Sam Walton
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I'd hate to see any descendants of mine fall into the category of what I'd call 'idle rich' - a group I've never had much use for.
Sam Walton
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Somehow over the years people have gotten the impression that Wal-Mart was...just this great idea that turned into an overnight success. But...it was an outgrowth of everything we'd been doing since [1945]...And like most overnight successes, it was about twenty years in the making.
Sam Walton
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Most everything I've done I've copied from somebody else.
Sam Walton
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Communicate everything you can to your associates. The more they know, the more they care. Once they care, there is no stopping them.
Sam Walton
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There are only four things in life that matter. The first is happiness and I'll sell you the other three for a dollar.
Sam Walton
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Great ideas come from everywhere if you just listen and look for them. You never know who's going to have a great idea.
Sam Walton
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There's absolutely no limit to what plain, ordinary, working people can accomplish if they're given the opportunity and encouragement to do their best.
Sam Walton
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You can make a lot of mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.
Sam Walton
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I had to get up everyday with my mind set on improving something.
Sam Walton
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The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It's terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys.
Sam Walton
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Don't get so stuck in your ways that you can't change.
Sam Walton