Sam Walton: I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time. — Sam Walton

I loved thIs busIness and thIs way of lIfe, but It Is tIme for me to pull back and focus on other thIngs that really matter to me. — Sam Walton

I’d still say that visiting the stores and listening to our folks was one of the most valuable uses of my time as an executive. But really, our best ideas usually do come from the folks in the stores. Period. — Sam Walton

Some families sell their stocks off a little bit at a time to live high, and then–boom–somebody takes them over, and it all goes down the drain. — Sam Walton

To succeed in this world, you have to change all the time. — Sam Walton

You can’t just keep doing what works one time, everything around you is changing. To succeed, stay out in front of change. — Sam Walton

Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. — Sam Walton

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

The way management treats their associates is exactly how the associates will then treat the customers. — Sam Walton

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

Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitor. — Sam Walton

Exceed your customer’s expectations. If you do, they’ll come back over and over. Give them what they want–and a little more. — Sam Walton

Give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people. — Sam Walton

If one of our customers comes into the store without a smile, I’ll give them one of mine. — Sam Walton

The best way to reduce paying estate taxes is to give your assets away before they appreciate. — Sam Walton

I learned this early on in the variety business: You’ve got to give folks responsibility, you’ve got to trust them, and then you’ve got to check on them. — Sam Walton

Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anybody else. — Sam Walton

Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don’t become too predictable. — Sam Walton

Focus on something the customer wants, and then deliver it. — Sam Walton

I think my constant fiddling and meddling with the status quo may have been one of my biggest contributions to the later success of Wal–Mart. — Sam Walton

It’s just paper–all I own is a pickup truck and a little Wal–Mart stock. — Sam Walton

I don’t know what would have happened to Wal–Mart if we had laid low and never stirred up the competition. My guess is that we would have remained a strictly regional operator. — Sam Walton

The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal–Mart sign, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’. They’re still up there, and they have made all the difference. — Sam Walton

I guess in all my years, what I heard more than anything else was: a mere town cannot support a discount store for very long. — Sam Walton

The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. — Sam Walton

The job of senior management is to cultivate an environment where store managers can learn from the market and from each other. — Sam Walton

I probably have traveled and walked into more variety stores than anybody in America. — Sam Walton

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

Each Wal–Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community. — Sam Walton